Code of Massachusetts Regulations › 310 CMR - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › Title 310 CMR 10.00 - Wetlands Protection › Additional Regulations for Inland Wetlands › Section 10.56 - Land under Water Bodies and Waterways (under any Creek, River, Stream, Pond or Lake)

Current through Register 1525, July 5, 2024
(1)
Preamble
. Land under Water Bodies and Waterways is
				likely to be significant to public and private water supply, to ground water
				supply, to flood control, to storm damage prevention, to prevention of
				pollution and to protection of fisheries and wildlife habitat. Where such land
				is composed of concrete, asphalt or other artificial impervious material, said
				land is likely to be significant to flood control and storm damage prevention.
Where Land under Water Bodies and Waterways is composed of
				  pervious material, such land represents a point of exchange between surface and
				  ground water.
The physical nature of Land under Water Bodies and Waterways
				  is highly variable, ranging from deep organic and fine sedimentary deposits to
				  rocks and bedrock. The organic soils and sediments play an important role in
				  the process of detaining and removing dissolved and particulate nutrients (such
				  as nitrogen and phosphorous) from the surface water above. They also serve as
				  traps for toxic substances (such as heavy metal compounds).
Land under Water Bodies and Waterways, in conjunction with
				  banks, serves to confine floodwater within a definite channel during the most
				  frequent storms. Filling within this channel blocks flows which in turn causes
				  backwater and overbank flooding during such storms. An alteration of Land under
				  Water Bodies and Waterways that causes water to frequently spread out over a
				  larger area at a lower depth increases the amount of property which is
				  routinely flooded. Additionally, it results in an elevation of water
				  temperature and a decrease in habitat in the main channel, both of which are
				  detrimental to fisheries, particularly during periods of warm weather and low
				  flows.
Land under rivers, streams and creeks that is composed of
				  gravel allows the circulation of cold, well oxygenated water necessary for the
				  survival of important game fish species such as brook trout (Salvelinus
				  frontinalis), rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), brown trout (Salmo trutto)
				  and atlantic salmon (Salmon salar). River, stream and creek bottoms with a
				  diverse structure composed of gravel, large and small boulders and rock
				  outcrops provides escape cover and resting areas for the above mentioned game
				  fish species (salmonids). Such bottom type also provides areas for the
				  production of aquatic insects essential to fisheries.
Land under ponds and lakes is vital to a large assortment of
				  warm water fish during spawning periods. Species such as large mouth bass
				  (Micropterus salmoides), smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieui), blue gills
				  (Lepomis macrochirus), pumpkinseeds (Lepomis gibbosus), black crappie (Pomoxis
				  nigromaculatus) and rock bass (Ambloplites rupestris) build nests on the lake
				  and bottom substrates within which they shed fertilize their eggs.
The plant community composition and structure, hydrologic
				  regime, topography, soil composition and water quality of land under water
				  bodies and waterways provide important food, shelter, migratory and
				  overwintering areas, and breeding areas for wildlife. Certain submerged, rooted
				  vegetation is eaten by water fowl and some mammals. Some amphibians (as well as
				  some invertebrate species eaten by vertebrate wildlife) attach their eggs to
				  such vegetation. Some aquatic vegetation protruding out of the water is also
				  used for nesting, and many species use dead vegetation resting on land under
				  water but protruding above the surface for feeding and basking Soil composition
				  is also important for hibernation and for animals which begin to burrow their
				  tunnels under water. Hydrologic regime, topography, and water quality not only
				  affect vegetation, but also determine which species feed in an area.
(2)
Definition,
				Critical Characteristics and Boundaries
.
(a) Land under Water Bodies and Waterways is
				the land beneath any creek, river, stream, pond or lake. Said land may be
				composed of organic muck or peat, fine sediments, rocks or bedrock.
(b) The physical characteristics and location
				of Land under Water Bodies and Waterways specified in 310 CMR 10.56(2)(a) are
				critical to the protection of the interests specified in 310 CMR
				10.56(1).
(c) The boundary of Land
				under Water Bodies and Waterways is the mean annual low water level.