North Dakota Century Code Title 61. Waters § 61-33-01. Definitions

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.