Title L, Water Management and Protection

I. It shall be the duty of the department from time to time to cause all dams in the state which, by reason of their condition, height or location, may be a menace to the public safety to be inspected by competent engineers. A dam that is classified as a non-menace structure as o…

If during any flood warning issued by the National Weather Service, the condition of any hazardous dam becomes so dangerous to the safety of life or property in the opinion of the department as not to permit sufficient time for issuance of an order in the manner provided by RSA 4…

During a flood warning issued by the National Weather Service, the department shall have the right to enter on any property, public or private, for the purpose of investigating the condition, construction, or operation of any hazardous dam or associated equipment, facility, or pr…

I. No owner shall breach any dam, lower any water body for the repair of any dam, or cause any significant lowering of the water level in a pond or lake without first notifying the local governing body in the cities or towns where said dam or water body is located and the departm…

All orders issued by the department under the provisions of this subdivision shall be subject to appeal pursuant to RSA 21-O:14 but shall remain in force until modified or set aside on appeal.

The expense of examining plans or specifications and of inspecting the construction or reconstruction of a dam as authorized in this subdivision, including the salaries of the regular employees of the department for the time actually devoted to work necessary to such examination …

Any person or corporation authorized by its charter or articles of agreement to do so may erect and maintain on his or its land, or on land of another, with the owner's consent, a dam upon or across any stream or may increase by flashboards or permanently the height of any dam al…

The provisions of this subdivision shall in no way affect any mill of other persons lawfully existing on the same stream or any mill site or mill privilege of other persons on which a milldam has been lawfully erected and used or the right of any owner of such mill, mill site or …

I. Every applicant to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for the permits and licenses, or modifications of permits or licenses, necessary for the development, construction, or reconstruction of a hydro-energy project shall place, on or prior to the date of such application,…

Words and phrases used in this chapter shall mean and be construed as follows, except where a different meaning is clearly intended from the context: I. "Classification of a dam" means the potential hazard classification placed on a dam by the department based on the potential th…

All rights, powers, privileges and franchises conferred upon any corporation, enabling it to construct and maintain milldams upon the streams of this state and to flow lands or do any other act necessary to the development of hydroelectric energy, shall terminate and be forfeited…

Upon the written complaint of any citizen filed with the attorney general, setting forth that any corporation has failed to commence the actual work of constructing its dam or plant during the time limited by RSA 482:20 or has failed to prosecute the same with reasonable diligenc…

The provisions of this subdivision shall not affect the right of any town in any highway or bridge which the town may be liable to keep in repair, nor authorize any unreasonable interference with the use of any stream as a public highway.

The necessary repairs on a mill, milldam or flume owned by joint tenants, or tenants in common, or owned in severalty when the privilege of the water is owned jointly or in common, shall be made by the owners in proportion to their respective interests in such structures.

I. When in the opinion of the owner of any part or share of a mill, milldam or flume it is necessary that it be rebuilt or repaired, and the other part owners neglect to rebuild or repair the same, he may apply, by petition in writing, to the selectmen of the town in which it is …

The selectmen shall appoint a time and place of hearing, and notify all persons interested by causing a copy of the petition and notice of the time and place appointed to be served in hand or by certified mail, return receipt requested to each such person, if known and residing i…

The selectmen shall personally examine the premises, hear all persons interested, and, after consultation with the department, if they are of the opinion that the mill, milldam or flume ought to be rebuilt or repaired, they shall, by writing under their hands, order the owners to…

If any person interested neglects to comply with the order, any one or more of the others may rebuild or repair his part or share; and the cost of such repair or reconstruction, upon notice, shall be determined and certified by the selectmen, with their charges for the service, a…

If the owners of such mill, milldam or flume have made a special contract in respect to rebuilding or repairing the same, the decision of the selectmen concerning apportionment of costs shall conform to the contract. This section shall not limit the extent of repairs deemed neces…

I. Any person proposing to erect a dam or to increase, by flashboards or permanently, the height of any existing dam for any of the purposes provided in RSA 482:17 shall file an application for a permit with the department, setting forth the location, height and description of th…

The commissioner is authorized to: I. Provide technical assistance to the division of economic development, department of natural and cultural resources when the division requests such assistance in the promotion or development of a hydro-energy project. II. Continue and extend t…

I. Upon receipt of a petition, the department shall fix a time and place for hearing the petition and shall issue an order of notice to all parties interested, which shall be published for 3 successive weeks in some newspaper in the county in which the dam is to be erected or is …

The department shall, after hearing, determine whether it will be of public use and benefit to grant the rights asked for, and in such determination, shall give due consideration to the effect upon scenic and recreational values and upon fish and wildlife and upon the natural flo…

No other dam shall be erected to the injury of any proposed dam or any proposed increase in any existing dam which, in either case, has been found to be for the public good by the department pursuant to this subdivision, if the petitioner shall, within 3 years after such finding …

If the land of any person shall be overflowed, drained or otherwise injured by the use of any dam or addition to such dam and the damage shall not, within 30 days after due notice of such damage, be satisfactorily adjusted by the party erecting or maintaining the dam or increase …

The petition shall set out the title and description of the premises damaged, the right by reason of which the grievance arises, the location of the dam and the extent of the damages that the dam or dam addition has or may have occasioned.

The court, after notice to all persons interested, shall, unless the parties agree upon the judgment that shall be rendered, refer the petition to a committee of 3 disinterested persons to be appointed by the court to determine in relation to the matters set forth in the petition…

The committee shall give such notice to the parties as shall be ordered by the court, shall hear the parties, view the premises, estimate the damages and make a report to the court at the next term of the court.

Upon return of the report, any person interested in the report may object to its acceptance for any irregularity or improper conduct on the part of the committee, and the court may set it aside for cause. If the report shall be accepted and established, the court shall render jud…

Before reference of such petition to the committee, if either party shall so elect, the court shall direct an issue to the jury to the facts alleged in the petition and to assess the damages, and judgment shall be rendered on the verdict of the jury. The court may award costs to …

The committee or jury assessing the damage shall take into consideration any damage done to other land of the party flowed, as well as the damage occasioned to the land actually occupied.

The department is authorized to make such investigations as, in its opinion, the public good requires with respect to high or low water levels in the inland public waters of the state and the rights, instrumentalities and practices which affect or control such levels with a view …

Any person proposing to erect a dam or to increase, permanently or by flashboards, any existing dam, having obtained a permit from the department as provided in RSA 482:31, may file in the superior court a petition setting forth the location, height and description of the propose…

Any person, upon filing a petition as provided by RSA 482:33 or 482:40, may be required at any time, upon application to the court in which such petition is filed, to give within a reasonable time such security as justice may require for any damages which have been or may be occa…

The governor and council may grant to the owner of a dam located at the outlet of an inland public water the right to flow public lands contiguous to such public water and its tributaries when, in the opinion of the department, it is in the public interest to do so, and under suc…

Any such grant of right of flowage and the conditions upon which the same is made shall be evidenced by deed executed in the name of the state by the governor and attested by the secretary of state and recorded in the county where the property is situated.

To implement this subdivision, the department is authorized: I. To hold in the name of the state real property and rights and easements in such property, including dams in disrepair, deemed by it necessary or desirable for the purposes of this subdivision, and to use such propert…

I. [Omitted.] II. The department shall study and survey each facility and shall submit to the governor and council a report including a detailed description and plan of the facility and a detailed estimate of the total cost of the facility and of the funds which may be received f…

The provisions of RSA 481:1-19, 482:85, and 482:91 shall apply to the facilities undertaken under the authority of this subdivision insofar as the same are not inconsistent with the provisions of this subdivision.

For the purpose of paying the expense, or a part of the expense, of the cost of a facility undertaken by the state under the provisions of this subdivision, as provided by any agreement with the state, a city or town may raise and appropriate such sums of money as may be required…

I. For a consideration of $1, unless otherwise noted, the department is authorized to accept conveyance from the property owners the following described property for the purpose of improving and controlling certain water rights for the benefit of the state. The department shall o…

I. For a consideration of $1, the New Hampshire department of fish and game is authorized to accept conveyance and attendant easements from the owners of the following described properties for the purposes listed for each property. II. The department of fish and game is authorize…

Upon written notice from the department, the owner of a non-permitted existing dam shall submit an application for a permit for said dam to the department along with a fee based on the classification of the dam under RSA 482:9. The application shall provide such information as th…

Revenue to the state resulting from the leasing for hydroelectric generation of any dams owned by the department of fish and game which were funded by the Pittman-Robertson or Dingell-Johnson federal aid in fish and wildlife restoration programs shall be credited to the fund esta…

The department is authorized to accept the transfer of necessary rights and easements in and to the following described dams from the state agencies that are the owners or custodians of such dams for the purpose of providing access and construction work areas and for the purpose …

I. In this section "state-owned dam" means any dam owned exclusively by the department. II. At least one year prior to removing any state-owned dam, the department shall offer to transfer ownership of the dam and associated property, including associated easements and water right…