Groundwater means all water, which is below the surface of the ground in the saturation zone and in direct contact with the ground or subsoil.
Surface waters means all waters of the state as defined in G.S. 143-212 except underground waters
Surface water means all water which is open to the atmosphere and subject to surface runoff.
Soil means all unconsolidated mineral and organic material of any origin.
Drainage means the movement of water to a place of disposal, whether by way of the natural characteristics of the ground surface or by artificial means;
Mine drainage means any drainage, and any water pumped or siphoned, from an active mining area or a post-mining area. The abbreviation “ml/l” means milliliters per liter.
Irrigation means application of water to land areas to supply the water needs of
Subsurface tracer study means the release of a substance tagged with radioactive material for the purpose of tracing the movement or position of the tagged substance in the well-bore or adjacent formation.
Potable means water suitable for drinking by the public.
Surface mining means mining by removing the overburden lying above the natural deposits and excavating directly from the natural deposits exposed, or by excavating directly from deposits lying exposed in their natural state and shall include dredge operations conducted in or on natural waterways or artificially created waterways within the state.
Surface impoundment or "impoundment" means a facility or part of a facility which is a natural topographic depression, man-made excavation, or diked area formed primarily of earthen materials (although it may be lined with man-made materials), which is designed to hold an accumulation of liquid wastes or wastes containing free liquids, and which is not an injection well. Examples of surface impoundments are holding, storage, settling, and aeration pits, ponds, and lagoons.
Drainage area means a geographic area within which stormwater, sediments, or dissolved materials drain to a particular receiving waterbody or to a particular point along a receiving waterbody.
Water Surface Elevation (WSE means the height, in relation to NAVD 1988, of floods of various magnitudes and frequencies in the floodplains of riverine areas.
Area of shallow flooding means a designated AO or AH Zone on a community's Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) with one percent or greater annual chance of flooding to an average depth of one to three feet where a clearly defined channel does not exist, where the path of flooding is unpredictable and indeterminate; and where velocity flow may be evident. Such flooding is characterized by ponding or sheet flow.
Sediment means solid material, mineral or organic, that is in suspension, is being transported, or has been moved from its site of origin by air, water or gravity as a product of erosion.
Sanitary landfill means an engineered land burial facility for the disposal of household waste that is so located, designed, constructed, and operated to contain and isolate the waste so that it does not pose a substantial present or potential hazard to human health or the environment. A sanitary landfill also may receive other types of solid wastes, such as commercial solid waste, nonhazardous sludge, hazardous waste from conditionally exempt small quantity generators, construction, demolition, or debris waste and nonhazardous industrial solid waste. See 9VAC20-81 (Solid Waste Management Regulations) for further definitions of these terms.
Plants means live plants and live parts of plants, including fresh fruit, vegetables and seeds;
Water means the chemical element defined as H2O in any of its three natural states, liquid, solid and gaseous.
Excavation means the mechanical removal of earth material.
Invasive plant species means species of plants not historically found in California that spread outside cultivated areas and can damage environmental or economic resources. Invasive species may be regulated by county agricultural agencies as noxious species. Lists of invasive plants are maintained at the California Invasive Plant Inventory and USDA invasive and noxious weeds database.
Wildlife habitat means a surface water of the state used by plants and animals not considered as pathogens, vectors for pathogens or intermediate hosts for pathogens for humans or domesticated livestock and plants.
Vegetation means trees, shrubs, nursery stock and other vegetation and includes the limbs or growth of any Vegetation.
Underground mining means all methods of mining other than surface mining.