§ 61-33-01 — Definitions

As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
1. "Board" means the sovereign lands advisory board.
2. "Board of university and school lands" means that entity created by section 15-01-01.
3. "Navigable waters" means waters that were in fact navigable at the time of statehood,
and that are used, were used, or were susceptible of being used in their ordinary
condition as highways for commerce over which trade and travel were or may have
been conducted in the customary modes of trade on water.
4. "Ordinary high water mark" means that line below which the presence and action of
the water upon the land is continuous enough so as to prevent the growth of terrestrial
vegetation, destroy its value for agricultural purposes by preventing the growth of what
may be termed an ordinary agricultural crop, including hay, or restrict its growth to
predominantly aquatic species.
5. "Sovereign lands" means those areas, including beds and islands, lying within the
ordinary high water mark of navigable lakes and streams. Lands established to be
riparian accretion or reliction lands pursuant to section 47-06-05 are considered to be
above the ordinary high water mark and are not sovereign lands.