Water Management (Dam Works Exemption) Order 2005

Water Management (Dam Works Exemption) Order 2005

18 August 2005

I make the following order under section 137(2) of the Water Management Act 1999.

This order may be cited as the Water Management (Dam Works Exemption) Order 2005.

This order takes effect on the day on which its making is notified in the Gazette.

In this order – Act means the Water Management Act 1999; batter slope means the upstream or downstream outer surface of a dam wall; earth-fill embankment dam wall means any dam wall primarily constructed of selected excavated soil materials; flood capacity means the amount of water that can be carried by a spillway without risking the safety of the dam; main dimensions of a dam wall means the dam wall height, dam wall crest width, batter slope dimensions and spillway dimensions; spillway means a structure over or through which excess water is discharged from a dam.

An expression used in this order that is defined in the Act has the same meaning as so defined.

The Acts Interpretation Act 1931 applies to the interpretation of this order as if it were by-laws.

A permit under Part 8 of the Act is not required in respect of dam works carried out for any of the following purposes:to make minor repairs to a dam wall that do not – increase the pre-existing maximum height of the dam wall; or steepen the pre-existing batter slopes of the dam wall; or change the pre-existing main dimensions of the dam wall; to make minor repairs to an earth-fill embankment dam wall that do not involve the repair or replacement of any section of the dam wall that disturbs – more than 10% of the horizontal width of the dam wall between the upstream and downstream batter slopes; or more than 20% of the horizontal length of the dam wall, measured at any height between each end of the dam wall; to repair or maintain a fish-pass around or over an existing dam wall; subject to subclause (2), to construct, or modify the design specifications of, a fish-pass around or over an existing dam wall; to make minor repairs to a spillway that do not reduce the flood capacity below that recommended in the latest guidelines issued by the Australian National Committee on Large Dams Inc; to remove vegetation from a spillway, dam wall or within the water storage area; to de-silt a water storage area, if the dam walls are left untouched and the permitted capacity of the dam is not increased; to place or replace protective topsoil, gravel, rock or other natural material to prevent erosion or other damage to – a dam embankment; or a spillway, so long as the spillway's capacity to discharge excess water is not changed; to make repairs, to outlet pipes or control valves, that do not reduce the pre-existing flow capacity of those outlet pipes or control valves; to install a structure or device to measure the flow of water in a watercourse so as to comply with a statutory requirement; the installation by a government agency of a structure or device to measure the flow of water in a watercourse so as to manage freshwater resources.

Where the written consent of the Director of Inland Fisheries has been given as mentioned in section 139 of the Inland Fisheries Act 1995, the reference to a fish-pass in subclause (1)(ca) is to be read as a reference to a fish-pass for which that consent has been obtained.