18 C.F.R. § 803.44 Standards for surface water withdrawals.
Title 18 - Conservation of Power and Water Resources
(a) Requirement. (1) With respect to projects coming into existence on or after the effective date of this section, any project sponsor proposing to withdraw either directly or a public water supplier proposing to withdraw indirectly (through another user) from a surface source in excess of an average of 100,000 gpd for any consecutive thirty-day period, proposing to increase a withdrawal to more than an average of 100,000 gpd for any consecutive thirty-day period or proposing to increase a withdrawal above that amount which was previously approved by the commission, shall obtain commission approval of the withdrawal. These withdrawals may be denied or may be limited by the commission to the amount (quantity and rate) of water that is needed to meet the reasonably foreseeable needs of the project sponsor and that can be withdrawn without causing adverse lowering of streamflow levels, rendering competing supplies unreliable, causing water quality degradation that may be injurious to any existing or potential water use, adversely affecting fish, wildlife or other living resources or their habitat, or having a substantial adverse impact on the low flow of perennial streams. (2) With respect to projects withdrawing any quantity of water prior to the effective date of this section, any project sponsor proposing to increase the said withdrawal in excess of 100,000 gpd above that which such project was withdrawing prior to the said effective date, shall apply for approval pursuant to subpart B of this part. (3) Any sponsor of a project subject to this section shall complete a surface water withdrawal application. After obtaining approval under this section, the sponsor shall comply with metering, monitoring, and conservation requirements as set forth in this section. (b) Withdrawal application. Information required by the commission is specified in the commission's application for withdrawal from surface water sources. (c) Metering. Project sponsors shall meter or use other suitable methods of measuring surface withdrawals approved under this section. The meters shall be accurate to within 5 percent of the actual flow. (d) Monitoring and reporting. Monitoring and periodic reporting of surface water withdrawals approved under this section is required. The required information includes but is not limited to the following: (1) Daily, weekly, or monthly records of withdrawals by source, as specified by the commission, and reported annually; (2) Description of conservation activity; and (3) Records of releases or flowby for instream protection reported annually. (e) Planning. If projections indicate that a project's surface water supply will be constrained in the future by either the quantity or quality of available surface water, the commission may, in its discretion, require the submission of a water resource development plan prior to accepting any new withdrawal applications for the same or related projects. (f) Interference with existing withdrawals. If review of the application or substantial data demonstrates that operation of a proposed surface water withdrawal will significantly affect or interfere with an existing ground-water or surface water withdrawal, the project may be denied or the project sponsor may be required to provide, at its expense, an alternate water supply or other mitigating measures. (g) Effective date. This section shall be effective six months after the effective date set forth in §803.1(e), except for projects previously reviewed and approved by the commission under the general authority of section 3.10 of the compact. Commission authority shall continue over such previously approved projects. (h) Hydroelectric projects. Hydroelectric projects, except to the extent that such projects constitute a withdrawal, shall be exempt from the requirements of this section; provided, however, that nothing in this paragraph shall be construed as exempting hydroelectric projects from review and approval under any other category of project requiring review and approval as set forth in §§803.4 and 803.5.
Title 18: Conservation of Power and Water Resources
PART 803—REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF PROJECTS
Subpart D—Standards for Review and Approval/Special Standards
§ 803.44 Standards for surface water withdrawals.
