24. For the purposes of section 31.0.5.1 of the Act,(1) maintenance work on a watercourse is work(a) to maintain it in a functional hydraulic and ecological state byi. maintaining or restoring the watercourse to a dynamic balance, as reflected in a hydraulic geometry adapted to the conditions of the watershed; or
ii. maintaining or re-establishing the ecological functions of the watercourse;
(b) carried out by cleaning; or
(c) ensuring proper management of vegetation and sediments in the littoral zone, on a riverbank or lakeshore or in a flood zone;
(2) work in a lake to regulate the water level or maintain the lake bed is solely work to remove sediment from the mouth of an affluent or immediately upstream from the outflow of the lake.
The work referred to in the first paragraph must be planned in a way that takes into account the specific features of the hydrographic network in the watershed concerned, the regional wetlands and bodies of water plan and the water master plan applicable, and previous work in the watercourse or lake, if any.
871-2020O.C. 871-2020, s. 24; 1369-2021O.C. 1369-2021, s. 161; 1596-2021O.C. 1596-2021, s. 6411.