(NOTICE: This is an excerpt from the Dam Safety Law. If you wish to view the full text, please go to the N.C. General Statutes or Division of Land Resources, Dam Safety Program.)

§ 143-215.31.  Supervision over maintenance and operation of dams.

  (a)The Commission shall have jurisdiction and supervision
over the maintenance and operation of dams to safeguard life and
property and to satisfy minimum streamflow requirements. The
Commission may adopt standards for the maintenance and operation
of dams as may be necessary for the purposes of this Part. The
Commission may vary the standards applicable to various dams,
giving due consideration to the minimum flow requirements of the
stream, the type and location of the structure, the hazards to
which it may be exposed, and the peril of life and property in
the event of failure of a dam to perform its function.
  (b) The Department, consistent with rules adopted by the
Commission, may impose any condition or requirement in orders and
written approvals issued under this Part that is necessary to
ensure that stream classifications, water quality standards, and
aquatic habitat requirements are met and maintained, including
conditions and requirements relating to the release or discharge
of designated flows from dams, the location and design of water
intakes and outlets, the amount and timing of the withdrawal of
water from a reservoir, and the construction of submerged weirs
or other devices intended to maintain minimum streamflows.
  The Commission shall adopt rules that specify the minimum
streamflow in the length of the stream affected.
  (c) The minimum streamflow in the length of the stream
affected by a dam that is operated by a small power producer, as
defined in G.S. 62-3(27a), that diverts water from 4,000 feet or
less of the natural streambed and where the water is returned to
the same stream shall be:
       (1)  The minimum average flow for a period of seven
            consecutive days that would have an average
            occurrence of once in 10 years in the absence of the
            dam, or ten percent (10%) of the average annual flow
            of the stream in the absence of the dam, whichever
            is less, if prior to 1 January 1995 the small power
            producer was either licensed by the Federal Energy
            Regulatory Commission or held a certificate of
            public convenience and necessity issued by the North
            Carolina Utilities Commission.
       (2)  The minimum average flow for a period of seven
            consecutive days that would have an average
            occurrence of once in 10 years in the absence of the
            dam, or ten percent (10%) of the average annual flow
            of the stream in the absence of the dam, whichever
            is greater, if subdivision (1) of this subsection
            does not apply.
       (3)  To protect the habitat of the Cape Fear Shiner and
            other aquatic species, 28 cubic feet per second for
            any dam that diverts water from 2,500 feet or more
            of the natural streambed of any stream on which six
            or more dams operated by small power producers were
            located on 1 January 1995, notwithstanding
            subdivisions (1) and (2) of this subsection.
  (d) Subsection (c) of this section establishes the policy of
this State with respect to minimum streamflows in the length
of the stream affected by a dam that is operated by a small power
producer, as defined in G.S. 62-3(27a), that diverts water from
4,000 feet or less of the natural streambed and where the water
is returned to the same stream, whether the dam is subject to or
exempt from this Part. In its comments and recommendations to the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regarding the minimum
streamflow in the length of the stream affected by a dam that is
operated by a small power producer, as defined in G.S. 62-3(27a),
that diverts water from 4,000 feet or less of the natural
streambed and where the water is returned to the same stream, the
Commission and the Department shall not advocate or recommend a
minimum streamflow that exceeds the minimum streamflow that would
be required under subsection (c) of this section.
  (e) The minimum streamflow in the length of the stream
affected by a dam to which subsections (c) and (d) of this
section do not apply shall be established as provided in
subsection (b) of this section. Subsections (c) and (d) of this
section do not apply if the length of the stream affected:
       (1)  Receives a discharge of waste from a treatment works
            for which a permit is required under Part 1 of this
            Article; or
       (2)  Includes any part of a river or stream segment that:
            a.   Is designated as a component of the State
                 Natural and Scenic Rivers System by G.S. 113A-
                 35.1 or G.S. 113A-35.2.
            b.   Is designated as a component of the national
                 Wild and Scenic Rivers System by 16 U.S.C. §
                 1273 and 1274. (1967, c. 1068, s. 9; 1973, c.
                 1262, s. 23; 1987, c. 827, s. 154; 1993, c.
                 394, s. 6; c. 553, s. 80; 1995, c. 184, s. 1;
                 c. 439, s. 1.)

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