410                               Laws of Maryland                       [Ch. 317

Resources, in writing, previously obtained, upon written application
therefor to said [Commission] Department. Nothing in this sub-
section shall be construed to apply to any dam or obstruction which
is ten feet or less in height above the elevation of the stream bed or
waterway, nor shall it apply to any reservoir with a storage capacity
of less than one million gallons, nor shall it apply to any structure
for the impounding of water over non-tidal swamp lands for the
propagation of muskrats.

(b)   Nothing in this section shall be construed to extend to or
affect in any way "farm ponds" constructed for purposes of soil-
conservation, propagation of fish, watering of stock, and fire protec-
tion, except as in this sub-section provided. Farm ponds in order to
be exempt shall be formed by the construction of an all-earth dam
or embankment with an all-earth spillway; the possible depth of
water at the spillway level of the dam or embankment shall not
exceed nine (9) feet; the water surface area of the pond at the
spillway level shall not exceed 60,000 square feet; the drainage area
contributory to or diverted to the pond shall not exceed one hundred
acres; the dam or embankment forming the pond shall not be closer
than five hundred feet to a place for human habitation or public road
so situated as to be endangered by the breaking or failure of the
dam or embankment.

Prior consent in writing for the construction of any such farm
pond shall be obtained from all abutting property owners with a
distance of five hundred feet downstream from the dam or embank-
ment. Copies of such consents and of the location and construction
plans and specifications of the dam or embankment shall be filed
with the [Commission] Department before the construction thereof
is commenced. Any proposed construction or change which would
increase the possible depth of water at the spillway level of an exist-
ing farm pond, or which would increase the water surface area of
any existing farm pond, shall be subject to the procedures and
requirements specified in this sub-section. Notice of the proposed
removal or destruction of any such dam or embankment shall be sent
to the [Commission] Department at least thirty days in advance
thereof.

(c)  In addition to, and not in substitution of, the foregoing pro-
visions of this section, nothing in this section shall be construed to
extend to or affect in any way other "ponds" constructed as farm
ponds (as that term is defined in sub-section (b)), irrigation ponds,

flood control ponds, or for other purposes approved by the State

Soil Conservation Committee, except as in this sub-section provided.

A pond constructed under the provisions of this sub-section shall
not have a water surface area in excess of five acres at the spillway
level; nor shall it have a maximum depth of water in excess of fifteen
(15) feet at the spillway level of the dam or embankment, the meas-
urement to be upward from the original stream bed at the point of
the dam or embankment. However, excavation for additional water
capacity is permitted to any depth at any location in the pond, other
than within twenty-five (25) feet of the intersection of the estab-
lished bottom and toe HEEL of the embankment, provided the slope
of the excavation from a line of twenty-five (25) feet upstream from
the toe HEEL of the embankment, to the maximum depth, shall not
exceed one vertical foot for each six horizontal feet.