Wisconsin Administrative Code › Department of Natural Resources › NR 300-399 - Environmental Protection - Water Regulation › Chapter NR 328 - Shore Erosion Control Structures In Navigable Waterways › Subchapter III - Shore Erosion Control Structures on Rivers and Streams › Section NR 328.33 - Definitions

Current through June 24, 2024
In this subchapter:
(1) "Bank erosion control structure" means a
				  structure with defined shape, size, form and utility constructed and maintained
				  for the purpose of protecting a streambank from erosion.
(2) "Biological materials" means living or
				  organic materials that are 100% biodegradable such as native grasses, sedges,
				  forbs, shrubs and trees; live stakes and posts; non-treated wood for staking;
				  jute netting; fiber rolls and mats, erosion control blankets and turf
				  reinforcement mats composed of natural fibers; logs; root wads; tree
				  revetments; and branches.
Note:
Temporary breakwaters, with
					 non-biodegradable elements, are considered a permissible element during the
					 plant establishment phase of a biological erosion control project.
(3) "Biostabilization" means a
				  structure that relies solely on biological materials and may include bank
				  reshaping. Biological bank erosion control structures include but are not
				  limited to native vegetation, fiber rolls, fiber mats, live stakes, brush
				  mattresses, fascines, branch packing, erosion control blankets, turf
				  reinforcement mats, brush layering, encapsulated soil lifts, or revegetation by
				  seeding.
(4) "Commercial marina"
				  has the meaning in ch. NR 326.
(5)
				  "Department" means the department of natural resources.
(6) "Grading" means the physical disturbance
				  of the bank by the addition, removal or redistribution of soil.
(7) "Inert materials" means those materials
				  that slowly degrade, such as chemically treated wood, stone, stainless and
				  galvanized steel, plastics and synthetic polymers.
(8) "Integrated bank treatment" means a
				  structure that combines 2 separate treatments: structural treatment with inert
				  materials for toe protection at the base of the bank and biostabilization on
				  the upper portion of the bank.
(9)
				  "Municipal marina" has the meaning in ch. NR 326.
(10) "Ordinary high water mark" means the
				  point on the bank or shore up to which the presence and action of water is so
				  continuous as to leave a distinct mark either by erosion, destruction of
				  terrestrial vegetation or other easily recognizable characteristic.
(11) "Navigable waterway" means any body of
				  water with a defined bed and bank, which is navigable under the laws of the
				  state. In Wisconsin, a navigable body of water is capable of floating the
				  lightest boat or skiff used for recreation or any other purpose on a regularly
				  recurring basis.
Note:
This incorporates the definition at s.
					 30.01(4m),
					 Stats., and current case law, which requires a watercourse to have a bed and
					 banks,
Hoyt v. City of Hudson
, 27 Wis. 656 (1871), and
					 requires a navigable waterway to float on a regularly recurring basis the
					 lightest boat or skiff,
DeGayner & Co., Inc. v. DNR
, 70
					 Wis. 2d 936 (1975);
Village of Menomonee Falls v. DNR
, 140
					 Wis. 2d 579 (Ct. App. 1987).
(12) "Replacement" means a degree of
				  structural changes to the bank erosion control structure by which some or all
				  of the structure is removed and recreated. For seawalls, any replacement of a
				  portion of the seawall down to or at the footing of the structure is considered
				  replacement. For riprap, replacement of filter fabric or replacement of the
				  base substrate is considered replacement.
(13) "Riparian" means an owner of land
				  abutting a navigable waterway.
(14)
				  "Riprap" means a layer or layers of rock, including filter material, placed on
				  the bed and bank of a navigable waterway to prevent erosion, scour or sloughing
				  of the existing bank.
(15)
				  "Seawall" means an upright structure that is steeper than 1.5 feet vertical to
				  one foot horizontal and that is installed parallel to the bank to prevent the
				  sliding or slumping of the land and to protect the adjacent upland from the
				  action of surface water. Seawalls are commonly constructed of timber, rock
				  (including gabions), concrete, steel or aluminum sheet piling, and may
				  incorporate biological components. Biostabilization structures steeper than 1.5
				  feet vertical to one foot horizontal, such as encapsulated soil-lifts are not
				  considered seawalls.
(16)
				  "Structural treatment" means a system of non-living materials with a specific
				  configuration installed as a means of bank stabilization including, but not
				  limited to, riprap, tree revetments, logs, rootwads, dormant post, jacks, coir
				  logs, bulkheads, and stream barbs.
(17) "Toe" means the break in slope at the
				  foot of a bank where it meets the streambed.
(18) "Wetland" means an area where water is
				  at, near or above the land surface long enough to be capable of supporting
				  aquatic or hydrophytic vegetation and which has soils indicative of wet
				  conditions.
Common law doctrine of avulsion secures to the
						waterfront property owner the ability to reclaim land suddenly lost to erosion,
						AG ex rel Becker v. Bay Boom Wild River and Fur Company, 172 Wis. 363 (1920).