Idaho Administrative Code
Title IDAPA 20 - Lands, Department of
Rule 20.03.04 - RULES FOR THE REGULATION OF BEDS, WATERS, AND AIRSPACE OVER NAVIGABLE LAKES IN THE STATE OF IDAHO
Section 20.03.04.010 - DEFINITIONS

01. Adjacent. Contiguous or touching, and with regard to land or land ownership having a common boundary. (3-18-22)

02. Aids to Navigation. Buoys, warning lights, and other encroachments in aid of navigation intended to improve waterways for navigation. (3-18-22)

03. Artificial High Water Mark. The high water elevation above the natural or ordinary high water mark resulting from construction of man-made dams or control works and impressing a new and higher vegetation line. (3-18-22)

04. Beds of Navigable Lakes. The lands lying under or below the "natural or ordinary high water mark" of a navigable lake and, for purposes of these rules only, the lands lying between the natural or ordinary high water mark and the artificial high water mark, if there be one. (3-18-22)

05. Board. The Idaho State Board of Land Commissioners or its designee. (3-18-22)

06. Boat Garage. A structure with one (1) or more slips that is completely enclosed with walls, roof, and doors, but no temporary or permanent residential area. (3-18-22)

07. Boat Lift. A mechanism for mooring boats partially or entirely out of the water. (3-18-22)

08. Boat Ramp. A structure or improved surface extending below the ordinary or artificial high water mark whereby watercraft or equipment are launched from land-based vehicles or trailers. (3-18-22)

09. Commercial Marina. A commercial navigational encroachment whose primary purpose is to provide moorage for rental or for free to the general public. (3-18-22)

10. Commercial Navigational Encroachment. A navigational encroachment used for commercial purposes. (3-18-22)

11. Community Dock. A structure that provides private moorage for more than two (2) adjacent littoral owners, or other littoral owners possessing a littoral common area with littoral rights including, but not limited to homeowner's associations. No public access is required for a community dock. (3-18-22)

12. Covered Slip. A slip, or group of slips, with a frame, fabric canopy, and eaves that do not extend beyond the underlying dock. (3-18-22)

13. Department. The Idaho Department of Lands or its designee. (3-18-22)

14. Director. The head of the Idaho Department of Lands or his designee. (3-18-22)

15. Encroachments in Aid of Navigation. Includes docks, piers, jet ski and boat lifts, buoys, pilings, breakwaters, boat ramps, channels or basins, and other facilities used to support water craft and moorage on, in, or above the beds or waters of a navigable lake. The term "encroachments in aid of navigation" is used interchangeably with the term "navigational encroachments." (3-18-22)

16. Encroachments Not in Aid of Navigation. Includes all other encroachments on, in, or above the beds or waters of a navigable lake, including landfills, bridges, utility and power lines, or other structures not constructed primarily for use in aid of navigation, such as float homes and boat garages. The term "encroachments not in aid of navigation" is used interchangeably with the term "nonnavigational encroachments." (3-18-22)

17. Floating Home or Float Home. A structure that is designed and built to be used, or is modified to be used, as a stationary waterborne residential dwelling and is not self-propelled. These structures are usually dependent for utilities upon a continuous utility linkage to a source originating on shore, and must have either a permanent continuous connection to a sewage system on shore, or an alternative method of sewage disposal that does not violate local, state, or federal water quality and sanitation regulations. (3-18-22)

18. Floating Toys. Trampolines, inflatable structures, water ski courses, and other recreational equipment that are not permanently anchored to the lake bed or an encroachment and are either located between the shoreline and the line of navigability or are waterward of the line of navigability for less than twenty-four (24) consecutive hours. (3-18-22)

19. Jet Ski Ramp, Port, or Lift. A mechanism for mooring jet skis or other personal watercraft similar to a boat lift. The lifts may be free standing or attached to a dock or pier. (3-18-22)

20. Line of Navigability. A line located at such distance waterward of the low water mark established by the length of existing legally permitted encroachments, water depths waterward of the low water mark, and by other relevant criteria determined by the board when a line has not already been established for the body of water in question. (3-18-22)

21. Low Water Mark. That line or elevation on the bed of a lake marked or located by the average low water elevations over a period of years, and marks the point to which the riparian rights of adjoining landowners extend as a matter of right, in aid of their right to use the waters of the lake for purposes of navigation. (3-18-22)

22. Moorage. A place to secure float homes and watercraft including, but not limited to, boats, personal watercraft, jet skis, etc. (3-18-22)

23. Natural or Ordinary High Water Mark. The high water elevation in a lake over a period of years, uninfluenced by man-made dams or works, at which elevation the water impresses a line on the soil by covering it for sufficient periods to deprive the soil of its vegetation and destroy its value for agricultural purposes. (3-18-22)

24. Navigable Lake. Any permanent body of relatively still or slack water, including man-made reservoirs, not privately owned and not a mere marsh or stream eddy, and capable of accommodating boats or canoes. This definition does not include man-made reservoirs where the jurisdiction thereof is asserted and exclusively assumed by a federal agency. (3-18-22)

25. Party. Each person or agency named or admitted as a party or properly seeking and entitled as of right to be admitted as a party. (3-18-22)

26. Person. A partnership, association, corporation, natural person, or entity qualified to do business in the state of Idaho and any federal, state, tribal, or municipal unit of government. (3-18-22)

27. Piling. A metal, concrete, plastic, or wood post that is placed into the lakebed and used to secure floating docks and other structures. (3-18-22)

28. Plans. Maps, sketches, engineering drawings, aerial and other photographs, word descriptions, and specifications sufficient to describe the extent, nature and approximate location of the proposed encroachment and the proposed method of accomplishing the same. (3-18-22)

29. Public Hearing. The type of hearing where members of the public are allowed to comment, in written or oral form, on the record at a public meeting held at a set time and place and presided over by a designated representative of the Department who acts as the hearing coordinator. This type of hearing is an informal opportunity for public comment and does not involve the presentation of witnesses, cross examination, oaths, or the rules of evidence. A record of any oral presentations at such hearings will be taken by the Department by tape recorder. The hearing coordinator exercises such control at hearings as necessary to maintain order, decorum and common courtesy among the participants. (3-18-22)

30. Public Trust Doctrine. The duty of the State to its people to ensure that the use of public trust resources is consistent with identified public trust values. This common law doctrine has been interpreted by decisions of the Idaho Appellate Courts and is codified at Title 58, Chapter 12, Idaho Code. (3-18-22)

31. Pylon. A metal, concrete, or wood post that is placed into the lakebed and used to support fixed piers. (3-18-22)

32. Riparian or Littoral Rights. The rights of owners or lessees of land adjacent to navigable waters of the lake to maintain their adjacency to the lake and to make use of their rights as riparian or littoral owners or lessees in building or using aids to navigation but does not include any right to make any consumptive use of the waters of the lake. (3-18-22)

33. Riparian or Littoral Owner. The fee owner of land immediately adjacent to a navigable lake, or his lessee, or the owner of riparian or littoral rights that have been segregated from the fee specifically by deed, lease, or other grant. (3-18-22)

34. Riparian or Littoral Right Lines. Lines that extend waterward of the intersection between the artificial or ordinary high water mark and an upland ownership boundary to the line of navigation. Riparian or littoral right lines will generally be at right angles to the shoreline. (3-18-22)

35. Side Tie. Moorage for watercraft where the dock or pier is on only one (1) side of the watercraft. (3-18-22)

36. Single-Family Dock. A structure providing noncommercial moorage that serves one (1) waterfront owner whose waterfront footage is no less than twenty-five (25) feet. (3-18-22)

37. Slip. Moorage for boats with pier or dock structures on at least two (2) sides of the moorage. (3-18-22)

38. Submerged Lands. The state-owned beds of navigable lakes, rivers and streams below the natural or ordinary high water marks. (3-18-22)

39. Two-Family Dock. A structure providing noncommercial moorage that serves two (2) adjacent waterfront owners having a combined waterfront footage of no less than fifty (50) feet. Usually the structure is located on the common littoral property line. (3-18-22)

40. Upland. The land bordering on navigable lakes, rivers, and streams. (3-18-22)