But with opportunity there is red tape
There is an increase in dam building and dam repairs at the moment as dam owners make the most of low dam levels.
Although low dam levels are not optimal for your livestock and farming operations, it does give you a great opportunity to embark on projects to boost your future water capacity.
Apart from avoding the construction mistakes, knowing the regulations is of utmost importance if you consider to run your own dan.
The current conditions are an opportunity to increase the capacity of your existing dams – or perhaps construct a brand-new one to help with supplying even more future water storage when the dry spell ultimately breaks.
Do you know what the dam regulations & dam safety around constructing a brand-new dam are?
If you don’t, in a worst case situation, you’ll have to fill your dam in, and every dollar you’ve spent will be wasted.
And you be liable for the costs of the destruction of your beautiful dam.
Dam regulations, dam safety are very important to know before building a dam.
There are a number of points to think about when preparing to construct a brand-new dam.
It’s important to understand the dam regulations that governments have put in place regarding harvesting rainwater – as well as what you can, and can not do, without approvals, authorisations, licenses or permits.
A lot of people believe that councils are in control of these dam regulations, however that’s not the case in New South Wales.
If you intend to construct a dam, you don’t require a DA (development application) if the dam satisfies the development requirements under your local councils Local Environmental Plan (LEP).
The LEP enables exceptions for land in country areas that are zoned R5.
These exceptions require that:
If the dam does not tick these boxes, then a DA is required
On top of that of those requirements, depending on the proposed location, the proposed purpose and function of your new dam – as well as the proposed size of the dam, you might also require authorization from the NSW Department of Planning, Industry & Environment
The main determination of whether you can build the dam you want comes down to your ‘Harvestable Rights’.
This legislation was enacted by the NSW Government in 2006.
This legislation says that landholders can collect only a portion of the rain that falls on their property.
The percentage of rain that can be caught and stored depends on where the property is situated – but as a rule of thumb, you are allowed to capture 10% of the rain that falls on your property.
You can calculate your harvestable rights by using WaterNSW’s easy to use tool.
We do this every day, and it’s not that hard if you know what you’re doing