Chapter 271: Pilots, Harbor Masters, and Public Waters

If any person shall unload, cast or throw out of any ship, vessel or boat, or from shore or wharf, any ballast, rubbish, gravel, earth, dirt, ashes or filth into the harbor, or river of Piscataqua, between the lighthouse at the entrance of said harbor and Dover Point bridge, so called, up said river, or aid and assist therein, he shall be guilty of a violation.

Navigable streams or waters are those which are used, or are susceptible of being used in their ordinary condition, as highways for commerce, over which trade or travel is or may be conducted in the present customary modes of trade or travel on water, and such term shall not apply to streams or waters which are used merely as public highways for floating logs.

Any person or corporation harvesting ice upon any of the public waters of this state shall, at the beginning of harvest, indicate with suitable markers the area from which ice is to be taken, and shall maintain such markers as long as any danger exists.

Whoever violates the provisions of RSA 271:17 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.

This subdivision shall not apply to ponds closed, or areas set off, by order of the director of the fish and game department under authority of RSA 206.

I. All natural bodies of fresh water situated entirely in the state having an area of 10 acres or more are state-owned public waters, and are held in trust by the state for public use; and no corporation or individual shall have or exercise in any such body of water any rights or privileges not common to all citizens of this state; provided, however, the state retains its existing jurisdiction over those bodies of water located on the borders of the state over which it has exercised such jurisdiction.

II. The department of environmental services shall prepare, maintain, and publish an official list of all public waters in the state. The commissioner of the department of environmental services shall adopt rules, pursuant to RSA 541-A, relative to this publication.

III. The general court finds, based on all available information, that the natural mean high water mark of Ossipee Lake is 407.25 feet above mean sea level.

I. Public access to public waters means legal passage to any of the public waters of the state by way of designated contiguous land owned or controlled by a state agency, assuring that all members of the public shall have access to and use of the public waters for recreational purposes.

II. Public access also means that no barriers or other impediments shall exist in the roads and ways leading to any of the public waters.

The local governing body of a municipality may post warnings for the use of any frozen surface of any public body of water within its boundaries in the interest of public safety.