Current through Supplement No. 394, October, 2024
1.
Surface water
classifications. Procedures for the classifications of streams and lakes
of the state shall follow this subsection. Classifications of streams and lakes
are listed in appendix I and appendix II, respectively.
a. Class I streams. The quality of the waters
in this class shall be suitable for the propagation or protection, or both, of
resident fish species and other aquatic biota and for swimming, boating, and
other water recreation. The quality of the waters shall be suitable for
irrigation, stock watering, and wildlife without injurious effects. After
treatment consisting of coagulation, settling, filtration, and chlorination, or
equivalent treatment processes, the water quality shall meet the
bacteriological, physical, and chemical requirements of the department for
municipal or domestic use.
b. Class
IA streams. The quality of the waters in this class shall be the same as the
quality of class I streams, except that where natural conditions exceed class I
criteria for municipal and domestic use, the availability of softening or other
treatment methods may be considered in determining whether ambient water
quality meets the drinking water requirements of the department.
The Sheyenne River from its headwaters to one-tenth mile
downstream from Baldhill Dam is not classified for municipal or domestic
use.
c. Class II streams.
The quality of the waters in this class shall be the same as the quality of
class I streams, except that additional treatment may be required to meet the
drinking water requirements of the department. Streams in this classification
may be intermittent in nature which would make these waters of limited value
for beneficial uses such as municipal water, fish life, irrigation, bathing, or
swimming.
d. Class III streams. The
quality of the waters in this class shall be suitable for agricultural and
industrial uses. Streams in this class generally have low average flows with
prolonged periods of no flow. During periods of no flow, they are of limited
value for recreation and fish and aquatic biota. The quality of these waters
must be maintained to protect secondary contact recreation uses (e.g., wading),
fish and aquatic biota, and wildlife uses.
e. Wetlands. These water bodies, including
isolated ponds, sloughs, and marshes, are to be considered waters of the state
and will be protected under section
33.1-16-02.1-08.
f. Lakes and reservoirs. The type of fishery
a lake or reservoir may be capable of supporting is based on the lake's or
reservoir's geophysical characteristics. The capability of a lake or reservoir
to support a fishery may be affected by seasonal or climatic variability or
other natural occurrences, which may alter the physical and chemical
characteristics of the lake or reservoir.
|
Class |
Characteristics |
|
1 |
Cold water fishery. Waters capable of supporting
growth of cold water fish species (e.g., salmonids) and associated aquatic
biota. |
|
2 |
Cool water fishery. Waters capable of supporting
natural reproduction and growth of cool water fishes (e.g., northern pike and
walleye) and associated aquatic biota. These waters are also capable of
supporting the growth and marginal survival of cold water species and
associated biota. |
|
3 |
Warm water fishery. Waters capable of supporting
natural reproduction and growth of warm water fishes (e.g., largemouth bass and
bluegill) and associated aquatic biota. Some cool water species may also be
present. |
|
4 |
Marginal fishery. Waters capable of supporting a
fishery on a short-term or seasonal basis (generally a "put and take"
fishery). |
|
5 |
Not capable of supporting a fishery due to high
salinity. |
2.
Mixing zones. North Dakota
mixing zone and dilution policy is contained in appendix III.
3.
Numeric standards.
a. Class I streams. The physical and chemical
criteria for class I streams are listed in table 1 and table 2.
b. Class IA streams. The physical and
chemical criteria shall be those for class I streams, with the exceptions for
chloride, percent sodium, and sulfate as listed in table 1.
c. Site-specific sulfate standard. The
physical and chemical criteria for the Sheyenne River from its headwaters to
one-tenth of a mile downstream from Baldhill Dam shall be those for class IA
streams, with the exception of sulfate as listed in table 1.
d. Class II streams. The physical and
chemical criteria shall be those for class IA, with the chloride and pH and
sulfates as listed in table 1.
e.
Class III streams. The physical and chemical criteria shall be those for class
II, with the exceptions for sulfate as listed in table 1.
f. Wetlands, including isolated ponds, class
4 lakes not listed in appendix II, sloughs and marshes. The physical and
chemical criteria shall be those for class III streams, with exceptions for
temperature, dissolved oxygen as listed in paragraph 6 of subdivision g, and
other conditions not attributable to municipal, industrial, domestic, or
agricultural sources.
g. Lakes and
reservoirs.
(1) The physical and chemical
criteria for class I streams shall apply to all classified lakes or reservoirs
listed in appendix II.
(2) In
addition, a guideline for use as a goal in any lake or reservoir improvement or
maintenance program is a growing season (April through November) average
chlorophyll-a concentration of twenty µg/l.
(3) The temperature standard for class I
streams does not apply to Nelson Lake in Oliver County. The temperature of any
discharge to Nelson Lake shall not have an adverse effect on fish, aquatic
biota, recreation, and wildlife.
(4) A numeric temperature standard of not
greater than fifty-nine degrees Fahrenheit [15 degrees Celsius] shall be
maintained in the hypolimnion of class I lakes and reservoirs during periods of
thermal stratification.
(5) The
numeric dissolved oxygen standard of five mg/l as a daily minimum does not
apply to the hypolimnion of class III and IV lakes and reservoirs during
periods of thermal stratification.
(6) The numeric dissolved oxygen standard of
five mg/l as a daily minimum and the maximum temperature of eighty-five degrees
Fahrenheit [29.44 degrees Celsius] shall not apply to wetlands and class 4
lakes.
(7) Lake Sakakawea must
maintain a minimum volume of water of five hundred thousand-acre feet
[61,674-hectare meters] that has a temperature of fifty-nine degrees Fahrenheit
[15 degrees Celsius] or less and a dissolved oxygen concentration of not less
than five mg/l.
General Authority: NDCC 61-28-04;
S.L.
2017, ch. 199,
§
1
Law Implemented: NDCC 23.1-11, 61-28;
S.L.
2017, ch. 199,
§
26
