61-33.1-03. Determination of the ordinary high water mark of the historical Missouri
riverbed channel. (Retroactive application - See note)
1. The corps survey must be considered the presumptive determination of the ordinary
high water mark of the historical Missouri riverbed channel, subject only to the review
process under this section and judicial review as provided in this chapter.
2. Effective April 21, 2017, the department of mineral resources shall commence
procurement to select a qualified engineering and surveying firm to conduct a review
of the corps survey under this section. The review must be limited to the corps survey
segments from the northern boundary of the Fort Berthold Indian reservation to the
southern border of sections 33 and 34, township 153 north, range 102 west. Within
ninety days of the first date of publication of the invitation, the department shall select
and approve a firm for the review. The department may not select or approve a firm
that has a conflict of interest in the outcome of the review, including any firm that has
participated in a survey of the Missouri riverbed for the state or a state agency, or
participated as a party or expert witness in any litigation regarding an assertion by the
state of mineral ownership of the Missouri riverbed.
3. The selected and approved firm shall review the delineation of the ordinary high water
mark of the corps survey segments. The review must determine whether clear and
convincing evidence establishes that a portion of the corps survey does not
reasonably reflect the ordinary high water mark of the historical Missouri riverbed
channel under state law. The following parameters, historical data, materials, and
applicable state laws must be considered in the review:
a. Aerial photography of the historical Missouri riverbed channel existing before the
closure date of the Pick-Sloan project dams;
b. The historical records of the army corps of engineers pertaining to the corps
survey;
c. Army corps of engineers and United States geological survey elevation and
Missouri River flow data;
d. State case law regarding the identification of the point at which the presence of
action of the water is so continuous as to destroy the value of the land for
agricultural purposes, including hay lands. Land where the high and continuous
presence of water has destroyed its value for agricultural purposes, including hay
land, generally must be considered within the ordinary high water mark. The
value for agricultural purposes is destroyed at the level where significant, major,
and substantial terrestrial vegetation ends or ceases to grow. Lands having
agricultural value capable of growing crops or hay, but not merely intermittent
grazing or location of cattle, generally must be considered above the ordinary
high water mark; and
e. Section 61-33-01 and section 47-06-05, which provide all accretions are
presumed to be above the ordinary high water mark and are not sovereign lands.
Accreted lands may be determined to be within the ordinary high water mark of
the historical Missouri riverbed channel based on clear and convincing evidence.
Areas of low-lying and flat lands where the ordinary high water mark may be
impracticable to determine due to inconclusive aerial photography or inconclusive
vegetation analysis must be presumed to be above the ordinary high water mark
and owned by the riparian landowner.
4. The firm shall complete the review within six months of entering a contract with the
department of mineral resources. The department may extend the time required to
complete the review if the department deems an extension necessary.
5. Upon completion of the review, the firm shall provide its findings to the department.
The findings must address each segment of the corps survey the firm reviewed and
must include a recommendation to either maintain or adjust, modify, or correct the
corps survey as the delineation of the ordinary high water mark for each segment. The
firm may recommend an adjustment, modification, or correction to a segment of the
corps survey only if clear and convincing evidence establishes the corps survey for
that segment does not reasonably reflect the ordinary high water mark of the historical
Missouri riverbed channel under state law.
6. The department shall publish notice of the review findings and a public hearing to be
held on the findings. The public must have sixty days after publication of the notice to
submit comments to the department. At the end of the sixty days, the department shall
hold the public hearing on the review.
7. After the public hearing, the department, in consultation with the firm, shall consider all
public comments, develop a final recommendation on each of the review findings, and
deliver the final recommendations to the industrial commission, which may adopt or
modify the recommendations. The industrial commission may modify a
recommendation from the department only if it finds clear and convincing evidence
from the resources in subsection 3 that the recommendation is substantially
inaccurate. The industrial commission's action on each finding will determine the
delineation of the ordinary high water mark for the segment of the river addressed by
the finding.
8. Upon adoption of the final review findings by the industrial commission, the board of
university and school lands may contract with a qualified engineering and surveying
firm to analyze the final review findings and determine the acreage on a quarter-
quarter basis or government lot basis above and below the ordinary high water mark
as delineated by the final review findings of the industrial commission. The acreage
determination is final upon approval by the board.
