New South Wales Consolidated Acts

SOIL CONSERVATION ACT 1938 - SECT 3

3 Definitions

(1) In this Act, unless the context or subject matter otherwise indicates or requires:
"Bed", in relation to a river or lake, means the whole of:

(a) the soil or other matter forming the channel in which the river flows, or

(b) the soil or other matter forming the bottom of the lake,

and includes so much of the sides and bottom of the channel or of the shores and bottom of the lake as contain the river or lake at its mean level (whether or not the river or lake is for the time being at its mean level), but does not include any part of the sides or bottom of the channel or of the shores or bottom of the lake covered by water in times of flooding only.
"Catchment area" means an area in respect of which a notification under section 20 is, or is deemed to be, in force.
"Catchment committee" means a soil conservation catchment committee constituted in accordance with section 23A.
"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of the Service appointed under this Act.
"Corporation" means the corporation constituted by section 4B (1).
"Crown lands" means Crown lands within the meaning of the Crown Lands Consolidation Act 1913 .
"Deputy Commissioner" means a Deputy Soil Conservation Commissioner holding office as such under Chapter 1A of the Public Sector Employment and Management Act 2002 .
"Farming lands" means:

(a) lands used for farming, agricultural, horticultural, viticultural, vegetable-growing, market gardening, pastoral, grazing, poultry farming, silvicultural, floricultural or piscicultural purposes, and

(b) any other lands declared by the regulations to be farming lands for the purposes of this Act.

"Lake" includes a lagoon, swamp or other collection of still water, whether permanent or temporary, not being water contained in an artificial work.
"Local land board" means the local land board constituted under the Crown Lands Act 1989 for the land district in which are situated the lands in respect of which a reference to a local land board under this Act may be made, or if those lands be situated in more than one land district the local land board for any such district.
"Occupier", in relation to land, includes a person having the control or management of the land, whether residing thereon or not.
"Owner", in relation to land, includes every person who jointly or severally, whether at law or in equity:

(a) is entitled to the land for any estate of freehold in possession, or

(b) is a person to whom the Crown has lawfully contracted to sell the land under the Crown Lands Acts or any other Act relating to the alienation of lands of the Crown, or

(c) is entitled to receive, or is in receipt of, or if the land were let to a tenant would be entitled to receive, the rents and profits thereof, whether as beneficial owner, trustee, mortgagee in possession or otherwise, or

(d) is the holder of any lease granted under the Crown Lands Acts or any other Act relating to the disposition of lands of the Crown.

"Regulations" means regulations made under this Act.
"River" includes:

(a) a stream of water (whether or not consisting of or including saline water), whether perennial or intermittent, flowing in a natural channel, or in a natural channel artificially improved, or in an artificial channel which has changed the course of the stream, and

(b) an affluent, confluent, branch or other stream of water (whether or not consisting of or including saline water) into or from which a stream referred to in paragraph (a) flows.

"Service" means the Soil Conservation Service of New South Wales.
"Tree" includes sapling, shrub and scrub.
"Works", other than in Part 4, means:

(a) works necessary for the conservation of soil or the mitigation of erosion and any operations incidental thereto, or

(b) works necessary for the conservation of water resources or the provision or improvement of the water supply to farming lands for domestic or stock purposes, and any operations incidental thereto, not being the construction or improvement of a bore (within the meaning of the Farm Water Supplies Act 1946 ).

(2) In this Act, a reference to the conservation of water resources is a reference to the conservation of water resources on farming lands, not being water resources concerned primarily with irrigation and not being sub-surface water resources.