The following definitions shall apply in the interpretation
and implementation of this chapter:
ALTER
Includes, without limitation, the following actions when
undertaken in areas subject to this chapter:
(1)
Removal, grading, excavation or dredging of
soil, sand, gravel or aggregate materials of any kind.
(2)
Changing drainage characteristics, flushing
characteristics, salinity distribution, sedimentation patterns, flow
patterns and flood-retention characteristics.
(3)
Drainage or other disturbance of the water level
or water table.
(4)
Dumping, discharging or filling with any material
which may degrade water quality.
(5)
Driving of piles or erection of buildings or
structures of any kind.
(6)
Placing of obstructions, whether or not they
interfere with the flow of water.
(7)
Destruction of plant life, including cutting
of trees.
(8)
Changing of water temperature, biochemical oxygen
demand or other physical or chemical characteristics of surface and
ground water.
(9)
"Wildlife habitat," which shall mean those areas
subject to this chapter which, due to their plant community composition
and structure, hydrologic regime or other characteristics, provide
important food, shelter, migratory or overwintering areas or breeding
areas for wildlife.
(10)
Other changes or modifications which the Conservation
Commission in good faith determines to have a potential adverse effect
on wetland values.
BANK
The portion of the land surface which normally abuts and
confines a water body. It occurs between a water body and a vegetated
bordering wetland and its adjacent floodplain or, in the absence of
these, occurs between a water body and an upland.
(1)
A "bank" may be partially or totally vegetated,
or it may be comprised of exposed soil, gravel or stone.
(2)
The upper boundary of a "bank" is the first
observable break in the slope or the mean annual flood level, whichever
is higher. The lower boundary of a "bank" is the mean annual flow
level.
BOGS
Areas where standing or slowly running water is near or at
the surface during a normal growing season and where a vegetational
community has a significant portion of the ground or water surface
covered with sphagnum moss (Sphagnum species) and where the vegetational
community is made up of a significant portion of one or more, but
not limited to nor necessarily including all, of the following plants
or groups of plants: aster (Aster nemoralis), azaleas (Rhododendron
canadense and Rhododendron viscosum), black spruce (Picea mariana),
bog cotton (Eriophorum), cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon), high-bush
blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum, larch (Latrix laricina), laurels
(Kalmia augustifolia and Kalmia polifolia), leatherleaf (Chamaedaphne
calyculata), orchids (Arethusa, Calopogon, Pogonia), pitcher plant
(Sarracenia purpurea), sedges (Cyperaceae), sundews (Droseraceae),
sweet gale (Myrica gale) and white cedar (Chamacyparis thyoides).
EPHEMERAL STREAM
A stream or position of a stream which flows only in direct
response to precipitation. It receives little or no water from springs
and no long-continued supply from melting snow or other sources. Its
channel is at all times above the water table.
INTERMITTENT STREAM
(1)
A stream which flows part of the time, as after
a rainstorm, during wet weather or during part of the year.
(2)
One which flows only at certain times when it
receives water from springs (spring-fed) or from some surface source
(surface-fed) such as melting snow.
KETTLE HOLE
A bowl-shaped depression, usually from 30 to 50 feet deep
to 500 feet deep, that resulted from the resting place or burial place
of a huge mass of ice that became detached during glacial melting.
The final melting of the ice left a depression. A "kettle pond" is
a "kettle hole" which still retains water.
LAKE
Any open body of water with a surface area of 10 acres or
more.
LAND IN AGRICULTURAL USE
Any qualifying wetland within a farm which is qualified or eligible to be qualified under the Farmland Assessment Act, MGL c. 61A, §§
1-5.
LAND SUBJECT TO FLOODING (BORDERING AND ISOLATED)
(1)
BORDERING LAND SUBJECT TO FLOODINGAn area with low, flat topography adjacent to and inundated by floodwaters rising from rivers, streams, ponds or lakes. It extends from the banks of these waterways and water bodies; where a bordering vegetated wetland occurs, it extends from said wetland.
(a)
The boundary of "bordering land subject to flooding"
is the estimated maximum lateral extent of floodwater which will theoretically
result from the statistical one-hundred-year frequency storm. Said
boundary shall be that determined by reference to the most recently
available flood profile data prepared for the community within which
the work is proposed under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP),
currently administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Said boundary so determined shall be presumed accurate. This presumption
may be overcome only by credible evidence from a registered engineer
or other professional competent in such matters and to the satisfaction
of the Conservation Commission.
(b)
Where NFIP profile data is unavailable, the
boundary of "bordering land subject to flooding" shall be the maximum
lateral extent of floodwater which has been observed or recorded.
(2)
ISOLATED LAND SUBJECT TO FLOODINGAn isolated depression or closed basin without an inlet or an outlet, It is an area which at least once a year confines standing water.
(a)
"Isolated land subject to flooding" may be underlain
by pervious material, which in turn may be covered by a mat of organic
peat or muck.
(b)
The boundary of "isolated land subject to flooding"
is the perimeter of the largest observed or recorded volume of water
confined in said area.
LAND UNDER WATER
(1)
Land under water bodies is the land beneath
any river, stream, pond or lake. Said land may be composed of organic
muck or peat, fine sediments, rocks or bedrock.
(2)
The boundary of land under water bodies is the
mean annual high-water level.
MARSH
Areas where a vegetational community exists in standing or
running water during the growing season and where a significant part
of the vegetational community is composed, but not limited to nor
necessarily including all, of the following plants or groups of plants:
arums (Araceae), bladderworts (Utricularia), bur reeds (Sparganiaceae),
buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), cattails (Typha). duckweeds
(Lemnaceae), ellgrass (Vallisneria), frog bits Hydrophilic grasses
(Oiaceae), leatherleaf (Chamaedaphne calyculata), pickerelweeds (Pontederiaceae),
pipeworts (Eriocaulon), pondweeds (Potamogeton), rushes (Juncaceae),
sweet gale (Myrica gale), water milfoil (Haloragaceae), water lilies
(Nymphaeaceae), water starworts (Callitrichaceae) and water willow
(Decodon verticillatus).
NORMAL MAINTENANCE OR IMPROVEMENT OF LAND IN AGRICULTURAL USE
(1)
Includes only:
(a)
Tilling practices customarily employed in the
raising of crops.
(b)
Pasturing of animals, including such fences
and protective structures as may be required.
(c)
Use of fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and
similar materials subject to state and federal regulations covering
their use.
(d)
Constructing, grading or restoring of field
ditches, subsurface drains, grass waterways, culverts, access roads
and similar practices to improve drainage, prevent erosion, provide
more effective use of rainfall and improve equipment operation and
efficiency, in order to improve conditions for the growing of crops.
(2)
Improvements of land in agricultural use — Also
includes more extensive practices such as the building of ponds, dams,
structures for water control, water and sediment basins and related
activities, but only where a plan for such activity approved by the
Conservation District of the Soil Conservation Service is furnished
to the Conservation Commission prior to the commencement of work.
(3)
All such activity shall subsequently be carried
out in accord with said plan. In the event that the work is not carried
out in accordance with the required plan, the Conservation Commission
may place a stop order on said work and have recourse to such measures
as if the plan were an order of conditions.
PERSON
Includes any individual, group of individuals, association,
partnership, corporation, company, business organization, trust, estate,
the commonwealth or political subdivision thereof to the extent subject
to City ordinances, administrative agencies, public or quasi-public
corporations or bodies, the City of Chicopee and any other legal entity,
its legal representatives, agents or assigns.
POND
Any open body of water, either naturally occurring or man-made
by impoundment, which is never without standing water due to natural
causes, except during periods of extended drought. For purposes of
this definition, "extended drought" shall mean any period of four
or more months during which the average rainfall for each month is
50% or less of the ten-year average for that same month. Basins or
lagoons which are part of wastewater treatment plants shall not be
considered "ponds."
QUALIFYING WETLAND
Only inland freshwater areas which are seasonally flooded
basins or flats or inland fresh meadows.
RIVER
A natural flowing body of water that empties into any lake
or other river and which flows through the year.
RlVERINE WETLAND
Wetland and deep-water habitats that are contained within
a channel. These areas are particularly valuable in reducing the danger
of flooding.
SEASONAL WETLANDS
Isolated depressions or closed basins which temporarily confine
water during periods of high water table and high input from spring
runoff, snow melt or heavy precipitation and support populations of
nontransient macroorganisms or serve as breeding habitat for a select
species of amphibians. In the absence of those habitat functions,
the areas should be considered land subject to flooding.
STREAM
A body of running water, including brooks and creeks, which
moves in a definite channel in the ground due to a hydraulic gradient.
A portion of a "stream" may flow through a culvert or beneath a bridge.
Such a body of running water which does not flow throughout the year
is also a "stream."
SWAMPS
Areas where groundwater is at or near the surface of the
ground for a significant part of the growing season or where runoff
water from surface drainage frequently collects above the soil surface
and where a significant part of the vegetational community is made
up of but is not limited to nor necessarily includes, all of the following
plants or groups of plants: alders (Alnus), ashes (Fraxinus), azaleas
(Rhododendron canadense and Rhododendron viscosum), black spruce (Picea
mariana), buttonbush (Cophalanthus occidentalis), white hellebore
(Veratrum viride), hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), high-bush blueberry
(Vaccinium corymbosum), larch (Larix laricina), cowslip (Caltha palustris),
poison sumac (Toxicodendron vernix), red maple (Acer rubrum), skunk
cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus), sphagnum mosses (Sphagnum), spicebush
(Lindera benzoin), black gum tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica), sweet pepper
bush (Clethra alnifolia), white cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides) and
willow (Salicaceae).
UPSTREAM DRAINAGE WITH POTENTIAL OF ALTERING WETLANDS
Overland or surficial flow (runoff), which may originate
from natural sources (springs, snow melt, precipitation, etc.) or
human development (roads, driveways, slope changes, lawns, drainage
swales, drainage outfalls or other human landscape alterations), which
carries a sediment load or pollution that may alter a resource area.
Such drainage may not necessarily flow in any discernible channel
but may flow as sheet flow (over smooth surfaces), thread flow (through
small stems and leaves) or riverlet flow (along small hills on the
surface).
WET MEADOW
Where groundwater is at the surface for a significant part
of the growing season and near the surface throughout the year and
where a significant part of the vegetational community is composed
of various grasses, sedges and rushes; made up of, but not limited
to nor necessarily including all, of the following plants or groups
of plants: blue flag (Iris), vervain (Verbena), thoroughwort (Eupatorium),
dock (Rumex), fales loosestrife (Lythrum), marsh fern (Dryopteris
thelypteris), rushes (Juncaceae), sedges (Cyperaceae), sensitive fern
(Onoclea sensibilis) and smartweed (Polyconum).