12. CONSTRUCTION OR REPAIR OF RESERVOIRS, DAMS OR WATERWAY

OBSTRUCTIONS.

(a) Permit required. From and after January 1, 1934, it shall be unlawful for the State or any agency thereof, any person or persons, partnership, association, private or public corporation, county, municipality or other political subdivision of the State, to construct, reconstruct or repair any reservoir, dam or waterway obstruction; or to make or construct, or permit to be made or constructed, any change therein or addition thereto; or to make, or permit to be made, any change in, addition to, or repair of, any existing waterway obstruction; or in any manner to change the course, current, or cross-section of any stream or body of water, wholly or partly, within this State, without a permit from the Department, in writing, previously obtained, upon written application therefor to said Department. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to apply to any dam or obstruction which is ten feet or less in height above the elevation of the stream bed or waterway, nor shall it apply to any reservoir with a storage capacity of less than one million gallons, nor shall it apply to any reservoir to be designed, constructed and operated as a waste stabilization lagoon under permit of the State Department of Health, nor shall it apply to any structure for the impounding of water less than four feet in depth, over tidal and non-tidal swamp lands for the propagation of muskrats and other wildlife species; nor shall it apply to drainage systems designed exclusively for the purpose of collection, conveyance, or disposal of storm water.

(b) "Farm ponds".- Nothing in this section shall be construed to extend to or effect in any way "farm ponds" constructed for

purposes of soil-conservation, propagation of fish, watering of stock, recreation, and fire protection, except as in this subsection provided. Farm ponds in order to be exempt shall be formed by the construction of an all-earth dam or embankment; there shall be an all-earth spillway and/or a drop-inlet, pipe or other form of mechanical spillway; mechanical spillways will not be required when the watershed above the reservoir is less than five (5) acres and there is no base flow; the normal water surface area of the pond at the normal depth of water shall not exceed nine (9) feet measured upward from the original stream bed to the crest elevation of the lowest spillway except that excavation for additional water capacity is permitted to any depth at any location in the pond other than within twenty-five (25) feet of the intersection of the established bottom and the heel of the embankment, provided the slope of such excavation is no steeper than the slope of the upstream face of the embankment. The drainage area contributory to or diverted to the pond shall not exceed one hundred fifty (150) acres. The dam or embankment shall have a minimum free board of one (1) foot above the water elevation in the reservoir under design storm conditions; a wave height analysis shall be made for ponds with a water surface area greater than 60,000 square feet and the minimum free board increased if necessary for safety. Any limitation on contributing watershed area, depth of water, and water surface shall not be construed to apply to impoundments created entirely by excavation below the existing ground level, these being known generally as dug out ponds. The dam or embankment forming the pond shall not be closer than five hundred feet to a place for human habitation or public road so situated as to

be endangered by the breaking or failure of the dam or embankment.

RESERVOIR

Any proposed construction or change which would increase the possible depth of water at the spillway level of an existing farm pond, or which would increase the water surface area of any existing farm pond, shall be subject to the procedures and requirements specified in this sub-section. Notice of the pro

posed removal or destruction of any such dam or embankment shall be sent to the Department at least thirty days in advance thereof.

(c) Other ponds constructed as farm ponds. In addition to, and not in substitution of, the foregoing provisions of this section, nothing in this section shall be construed to extend to or affect in any way "ponds" constructed as farm ponds except as in this subsection provided.

A pond constructed under the provisions of this sub-section shall not have a normal water surface area in excess of twelve acres at the crest elevation of the mechanical spillway; nor shall it have a normal depth of water in excess of fifteen (15) feet at the crest of the mechanical spillway, the measurement to be upward from the original stream bed at the point of the dam or embankment. However, excavation for additional water capacity is permitted to any depth at any location in the pond, other than within twentyfive (25) feet of the intersection of the established bottom and heel of the embankment, provided the slope of such excavation is no steeper than the upstream face of the embankment.

The contributory drainage area for an impoundment constructed across a waterway shall not be in excess of four hundred (400) acres in any portion of the State northerly and westerly from the main line tracks of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company between the District of Columbia and the State of Delaware (en route to Wilmington, Delaware); and the contributory drainage area shall not be in excess of seven hundred (700) acres in any

RESERVOIR