“Arid” means landscapes with an average annual precipitation of five inches or less.

“Contamination” means an impairment of the quality of the waters of the state to a degree which creates a hazard to the public health through poisoning or through the spread of disease.

“Highwall” means the unexcavated face of exposed overburden and ore in a surface mine.

“Indigenous Plants” means plants occurring naturally in an area, not introduced.

“Native Species” means plant species indigenous to California, using pre-European as the historic time reference.

“Noxious Weeds” means any species of plant that is or is likely to become destructive or difficult to control or eradicate, and is termed to be so by the Director of the Department of Food and Agriculture in section 4500, Title 3 of the California Code of Regulations, pursuant to the Food and Agriculture Code section 5004 et seq.

“Vegetative Cover” means the vertical projection of the crown or shoot area of a species to the ground surface expressed as a percentage of the reference area (percentage can be greater than 100 percent).

“Vegetative Density” means the number of individuals or stems of each species rooted within the given reference area.

“Vegetative Species-richness” means the number of different plant species within the given reference area.

“Wetlands” for the purposes of these regulations, the definition of wetlands shall be the same as defined in the California Fish and Game Code, section 2785, subdivision (g).