1472                             Laws of Maryland                      [Ch. 521

and Dams," be and they are hereby repealed, and Sections 12 (a) and
(b) are re-enacted, with amendments, SECTION 12(A) OF ARTI-
CLE 96A OF THE ANNOTATED CODE OF MARYLAND (1964
REPLACEMENT VOLUME AND 1971 SUPPLEMENT), TITLE
"WATER RESOURCES," SUBTITLE "APPROPRIATION OF
WATERS; RESERVOIRS AND DAMS," BE AND IT IS HEREBY
REPEALED AND RE-ENACTED, WITH AMENDMENTS; AND
THAT SECTIONS 12(B) AND 12(C) OF THE SAME ARTICLE,
CODE, TITLE AND SUBTITLE BE AND THEY ARE HEREBY
REPEALED, AND THAT NEW SECTIONS 12(B) AND 12(C)
BE AND THEY ARE HEREBY ENACTED IN LIEU THEREOF,
TO STAND IN THE PLACE OF THE SECTIONS REPEALED,
AND THAT NEW SECTION 12(D) BE AND IT IS HEREBY
ADDED TO THE SAME ARTICLE, CODE, TITLE AND SUB-
TITLE, TO FOLLOW IMMEDIATELY AFTER SECTION 12(C)
THEREOF, AND ALL to read as follows:

12.

(a) From and after January 1, 1934, it shall be unlawful for the
State or any agency thereof, any person or persons, partnership, as-
sociation, private or public corporation, county, municipality or other
political subdivision of the State, to construct, reconstruct or repair
any reservoir, dam or waterway obstruction; or to make or construct,
or permit to be made or constructed, any change therein or addition
thereto; or to make, or permit to be made, any change in, addition to,
or repair of, any existing waterway obstruction; or in any manner to
change the course, current, or cross section of any stream or body
of water, wholly or partly, within this State, without a permit from
the Department, in writing, previously obtained, upon written appli-
cation therefor to said Department. [Nothing in this subsection
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 water-
way, nor shall it apply to any reservoir with a storage capacity of
less than one million gallons, nor shall it apply to any reservoir to
be designed, constructed and operated as a waste stabilization lagoon
under permit of the State Department of Health, nor shall it apply to
any structure for the impounding of water less than four feet in
depth, over tidal and nontidal swamplands for the propagation of
muskrats and other wildlife species; nor shall it apply to drainage
systems designed exclusively for the purpose of collection, convey-
ance, or disposal of storm water.]

[(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, recreation, and
fire protection, except as in this subsection provided. Farm ponds in
order to be exempt shall be formed by the construction of an all-earth
dam or embankment; there shall be an all-earth spillway and/or a
drop-inlet, pipe or other form of mechanical spillway; mechanical
spillways will not be required when the watershed above the reservoir
is less than five (5) acres and there is no base flow; the normal
water surface area of the pond at the crest elevation of the lowest
spillway shall not exceed five (5) acres; the normal depth of water
shall not exceed nine (9) feet measured upward from the original
stream bed to the crest elevation of the lowest spillway except that
excavation for additional water capacity is permitted to any depth