California Water Code

§ 6004

WAT § 6004 Effective Jan 1, 2023Div. 3 · Part 1 · Ch. 1

Statute text

(a)An obstruction in a canal used to raise or lower water therein or divert water therefrom, a levee, including, but not limited to, a levee on the bed of a natural lake with the primary purpose to control floodwaters, a railroad fill or structure, a road or highway fill or structure, a circular tank constructed of steel or concrete, or both, a tank elevated above the ground, and a barrier that is not across a stream channel, watercourse, or natural drainage area and that has the principal purpose of impounding water for agricultural use shall not be considered a dam.

(b)An obstruction in the channel of a stream or watercourse that is 15 feet or less in height from the lowest elevation of the obstruction and that has the single purpose of spreading water within the bed of the stream or watercourse upstream from the obstruction for percolation underground shall not 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.

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Legislative history

Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 943, Sec. 1. (AB 1164) Effective January 1, 2023.