Public Waters (PW) Basin and Watercourse Delineations

These are provisional representations of Public Waters Basins (lakes, wetlands) and Watercourses (streams, altered channels) as depicted on the scanned paper regulatory maps and lists known as Public Waters Inventory (PWI). Public Waters (formerly called Protected Waters) are defined in MN Rule and are protected by specific permitting requirements.<br/><br/>Permits for Water Appropriation, Public Waters Work and Dam Safety are available from the <b>MNDNR Permitting and Reporting System (MPARS)</b>: http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/mpars/index.html<br/><br/><b>Lake Shoreland Classifications</b> are included in the Basin feature attribute table and can be displayed by loading the designated layer file included in the File Geodatabase download. More information on Shoreland Classification can be found here: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/waters/watermgmt_section/shoreland/lake_shoreland_classifications.html<br/><br/>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br/><b>Minnesota Administrative Rules - Chapter 6115 Public Water Resources</b><br/>http://www.revisor.mn.gov/rules/?id=6115<br/><br/><b>Public Waters Inventory</b><br/>http://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=103G.201<br/><br/><b>Definitions</b> http://www.revisor.mn.gov/rules/?id=6120.3000<br/><br/> <i>Subd. 15 Public waters. </i>(a) "Public waters" means:<br/> <br/><ul>(1) water basins assigned a <b>shoreland management classification</b> by the commissioner under sections 103F.201 to 103F.221;<b> see</b> http://www.revisor.mn.gov/rules/?id=6120.3000 <br/><br/>(2) waters of the state that have been finally determined to be public waters or navigable waters by a court of competent jurisdiction;<br/><br/>(3) meandered lakes, excluding lakes that have been legally drained;<br/><br/>(4) water basins previously designated by the commissioner for management for a specific purpose such as trout lakes and game lakes pursuant to applicable laws;<br/><br/>(5) water basins designated as scientific and natural areas under section 84.033;<br/><br/>(6) water basins located within and totally surrounded by publicly owned lands;<br/><br/>(7) water basins where the state of Minnesota or the federal government holds title to any of the beds or shores, unless the owner declares that the water is not necessary for the purposes of the public ownership;<br/><br/>(8) water basins where there is a publicly owned and controlled access that is intended to provide for public access to the water basin;<br/><br/>(9) natural and altered watercourses with a total drainage area greater than two square miles;<br/><br/>(10) natural and altered watercourses designated by the commissioner as trout streams; and<br/><br/>(11) public waters wetlands, unless the statute expressly states otherwise.<br/><br/>(b) Public waters are not determined exclusively by the proprietorship of the underlying, overlying, or surrounding land or by whether it is a body or stream of water that was navigable in fact or susceptible of being used as a highway for commerce at the time this state was admitted to the union.</ul>