SECTIONS 6000-6008 - California Statutes

WATER CODE

SECTION 6000-6008

6000. Unless the context otherwise requires, the definitions in
this chapter govern the construction of this part.

6002. "Dam" means any artificial barrier, together with appurtenant
works, which does or may impound or divert water, and which either
(a) is or will be 25 feet or more in height from the natural bed of
the stream or watercourse at the downstream toe of the barrier, as
determined by the department, or from the lowest elevation of the
outside limit of the barrier, as determined by the department, if it
is not across a stream channel or watercourse, to the maximum
possible water storage elevation or (b) has or will have an
impounding capacity of 50 acre-feet or more.

6003. Any such barrier which is or will be not in excess of six
feet in height, regardless of storage capacity, or which has or will
have a storage capacity not in excess of 15 acre-feet, regardless of
height, shall not be considered a dam.

6004. (a) No obstruction in a canal used to raise or lower water
therein or divert water therefrom, no levee, including but not
limited to a levee on the bed of a natural lake the primary purpose
of which levee is to control floodwaters, no railroad fill or
structure, and no road or highway fill or structure, no circular tank
constructed of steel or concrete, or both, no tank elevated above
the ground, and no barrier which is not across a stream channel,
watercourse, or natural drainage area and which has the principal
purpose of impounding water for agricultural use shall be considered
a dam.
(b) No obstruction in the channel of a stream or watercourse which
is 15 feet or less in height from the lowest elevation of the
obstruction and which has the single purpose of spreading water
within the bed of the stream or watercourse upstream from the
obstruction for percolation underground shall be considered a dam.
(c) The levee of an island adjacent to tidal waters in the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, as defined in Section 12220, even when
used to impound water, shall not be considered a dam and the
impoundment shall not be considered a reservoir if the maximum
possible water storage elevation of the impounded water does not
exceed four feet above mean sea level, as established by the United
States Geological Survey 1929 datum.
(d) No noncircular tank, constructed of steel or concrete, or
both, that is constructed in a county of the third class by a public
agency, under the supervision of a civil engineer registered in the
state, that does not exceed 75 acre feet in capacity or 30 feet in
height, and no barrier that is not across a stream channel,
watercourse, or natural drainage area and that has the principal use
as a sewage sludge drying facility shall be considered a dam.

6004.5. "Reservoir" means any reservoir which contains or will
contain the water impounded by a dam.

6005. "Owner" includes any of the following who own, control,
operate, maintain, manage, or propose to construct a dam or
reservoir:
(a)The state and its departments, institutions, agencies, and
political subdivisions.
(b) Every municipal or quasi-municipal corporation.
(c) Every public utility.
(d) Every district.
(e) Every person.
(f) The duly authorized agents, lessees, or trustees of any of the
foregoing.
(g) Receivers or trustees appointed by any court for any of the
foregoing.
"Owner" does not include the United States.

6006. "Alterations," "repairs," or either of them, mean only such
alterations or repairs as may affect the safety of the dam or
reservoir.

6007. "Enlargement" means any change in or addition to an existing
dam or reservoir, which raises or may raise the water storage
elevation of the water impounded by the dam or reservoir.

6008. Water storage elevation means that elevation of water surface
which could be obtained by the existing dam or reservoir, as
previously operated, were there no outflow and were the reservoir
full of water.