2023 Louisiana Laws › Revised Statutes › Title 38 - Public Contracts, Works and Improvements › §38:3087.40. Construction which would impede flow of water in creek prohibited; pollution defined and prohibited; penalties fixed for violations

RS 38:3087.40 - Construction which would impede flow of water in creek prohibited; pollution defined and prohibited; penalties fixed for violations
A.(1) No person or public corporation shall erect within the drainage area of the district any dam or reservoir upon any stream or watercourse which will affect the creek until a copy of the plans thereof has been filed with the board of commissioners and approved.
(2) Whoever violates this Subsection shall be fined not less than five hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned for not more than sixty days, or both.
B.(1) No person shall knowingly and willfully empty or drain or permit to be drained from any pump, reservoir, well, or oil field, into any stream or drain constituting the watershed of the creek, or from any stream within said district into said creek any oil, salt water, or other noxious, toxic, hazardous, or poisonous gas, liquid, or substance which would render the water unfit for irrigation purposes or for human consumption through "water districts" or would destroy aquatic and fish life in the creek.
(2) Each and every day that oil, salt water, or any other substance described in Paragraph (1) of this Subsection is permitted to flow into natural streams or drains which constitute the watershed of the creek shall constitute a separate and distinct offense.
(3) Whoever violates this Subsection shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned for not more than three months, or both.
C.(1) No person shall:
(a) Obstruct drainage channels which compose any drain or stream flowing into the creek by bridging them except in accordance with plans, specifications, and instructions prescribed by the board of commissioners of the district.
(b) Construct dams, locks, or gates in drainage channels of the watershed of the creek or into the creek itself without permission of the commission.
(c) Anchor rafts, crafts, fish traps, fish cars, and other obstacles in the channel of any stream, drain, or natural flow of the feeder streams of the watershed of the creek or the creek itself.
(d) Float timber in the watershed of the creek.
(2) Whoever violates this Subsection shall be fined not less than five hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned for not more than sixty days, or both.
D.(1) No proprietor, owner, lessee, or possessor of land abutting upon the creek or upon any public road paralleling the water line or contiguous to the creek shall in any manner close or place any obstruction in any drain or ditch, whether on private property or on the public road or levee adjacent to the road, which will in any manner interfere with the effective, thorough, and continuous drainage into the creek.
(2) Whoever violates this Subsection shall be fined not less than five hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned for more than sixty days, or both.
Acts 1995, No. 443, §1, eff. June 17, 1995.