(1) The general responsibility to administer and enforce the provision of this act
and all rules thereunder shall be carried out by the water RESOURCES DIVISION
of the department.
(2) Except where specifically stated, the
authority of the department and compliance by the owner of the dam or reservoir
to these rules apply to:
(a) dams having a reservoir capacity behind
the dam of 50 acre-feet or more measured to the crest of the dam
embankment or measured to the maximum water surface that would occur during a
probable maximum flood, whichever is less;
(b) reservoirs of 50 acre-feet or
more that retain water both as a result of a dam and as an excavation in the
impoundment area, measured to the crest of the dam and include the impoundment
capacity below the normal land surface; and
(c) multiple or a series of dams erected on
a valley, basin, coulee, or ravine where each reservoir is less than 50 acre-feet,
but all are operated singly as one reservoir containing more than 50 acre-feet.
Whether the series is operated as a single reservoir will be a question of fact
in each instance. Factors to consider include:
(i) whether all dams or reservoirs are
under the same ownership and control;
(ii) whether all dams or reservoirs operate
as a unit, i.e., if one of the dams or reservoirs suffers a change, it will, in
most instances, affect one or more of the other dams or reservoirs; or
(iii) whether the dams or reservoirs are
physically proximate and on the same valley, basin, coulee, or ravine.
(3) For the purpose of the department's
determining the authority or need for an application
for hazard classification, construction permit, or operation permit or
investigation of a complaint, the department may calculate the reservoir
capacity in acre-feet, in absence of detailed data, as 0.4 times the vertical
height in feet from the downstream toe of the dam to the crest of the dam times
the water surface area at that level in acres.