                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

DEFINITIONS (§ 62.1-104)

1. Except as modified below, the definitions contained in Title 1 shall apply in
this chapter.

2. &#8220;Board&#8221; means the State Water Control Board. However, when used
outside the context of the promulgation of regulations, including regulations to
establish general permits, pursuant to this chapter, &#8220;Board&#8221; means
the Department of Environmental Quality.

3. &#8220;Impounding structure&#8221; means a man-made device, whether a dam
across a watercourse or other structure outside a watercourse, used or to be
used for the authorized storage of flood waters for subsequent beneficial use.

4. &#8220;Watercourse&#8221; means a natural channel having a well-defined bed
and banks and in which water flows when it normally does flow. For the purposes
hereof they shall be limited to rivers, creeks, streams, branches, and other
watercourses which are nonnavigable in fact and which are wholly within the
jurisdiction of the Commonwealth.

5. &#8220;Riparian land&#8221; is land which is contiguous to and touches a
watercourse. It does not include land outside the watershed of the watercourse.
Real property under common ownership and which is not separated from riparian
land by land of any other ownership shall likewise be deemed riparian land,
notwithstanding that such real property is divided into tracts and parcels which
may not bound upon the watercourse.

6. &#8220;Riparian owner&#8221; is an owner of riparian land.

7. &#8220;Average flow&#8221; means the average discharge of a stream at a
particular point and normally is expressed in cubic feet per second. It may be
determined from actual measurements or computed from the most accurate
information available.

8. &#8220;Diffused surface waters&#8221; are those which, resulting from
precipitation, flow down across the surface of the land until they reach a
watercourse, after which they become parts of streams.

9. &#8220;Floodwaters&#8221; means water in a stream which is over and above the
average flow.

10. &#8220;Court&#8221; means the circuit court of the county or city in which
an impoundment is located or proposed to be located.

HISTORY: Code 1950, § 62-94.1; 1956, c. 632; 1958, c. 638; 1968, c. 659; 1977,
c. 26; 2022, c. 356.