Section 571.16.1. Definitions.

“Artificial lake” means all river impoundments and all other impoundments of water to which the public has a right of access from land or from a navigable stream inlet. Examples are Lake Panorama, Lake Delhi, Lake Nashua, and Lake Macbride.

“Boat” means “watercraft” as defined in Iowa Code section 462A.2(41).

“Boat hoist”  or “lift”  means a structure placed in the water or below the ordinary high-water mark for boat storage, including platforms for storage of personal watercraft. For the purposes of this chapter, a boat hoist that is designed to store multiple small vessels such as personal watercraft or one-person sailboats shall be treated as a single hoist.

“Catwalk” means a platform no more than four feet wide installed to provide access from a dock to a moored boat or boat hoist.

“Commercial dock” means a dock used as part of a business, including a dock extending from residential property if one or more mooring spaces at the dock are rented for a fee. A dock maintenance fee charged by a property owners’ association to its members is not a basis to classify a dock as commercial. This definition is not applicable to docks in dock management areas or concession operations administered by the department.

“Commission” means the natural resource commission.

“Common dock” means a dock serving two or more adjoining shoreline properties.

“Department” means the department of natural resources.

“Director” means the director of the department of natural resources or the director’s designee.

“Dock” means a platform-type structure extending from shoreline property over a public water body, including but not limited to platforms that provide access to boats moored on the water body.

“Dock management area”  or “DMA”  means an area designated by the department in the bed of a water body adjoining a state park, wildlife management area, or recreation area or adjoining a strip of land that was dedicated to the public and is subject to the jurisdiction of the department pursuant to Iowa Code section 461A.11, second unnumbered paragraph. A dock management area as designated by the department includes an area adjoining public land from which docks extend.

“Impoundment” means a body of water formed by constructing a dam across a waterway.

“Public dock” means a dock constructed and maintained to provide public access from public land to a water body.

“Public land” means land that is owned by the state, a city, or a county or land that has been dedicated for public access to a public water body.

“Public water body” is a water body to which the public has a right of access.

“Shoreline property” means a parcel of property adjoining (littoral to) a lake or adjoining (riparian to) a river or other navigable stream.

“Slip” means a mooring space, usually adjacent to a dock, sometimes accessed by a catwalk.

“Water body” means a river or other stream, a natural lake, an artificial lake or other impoundment, or an excavated pit.