§844. Water intake zone restrictions

A. It shall be unlawful for any person on a vessel, as defined in R.S. 34:801, to discharge any substance from the vessel in a water intake zone or to operate a vessel in a water intake zone in such a manner as to roil the water, or disturb sediment, or otherwise cause the water to become more turbid, or to physically damage or attach any vessel or object to any water intake structure or facility.

B. As used in this Section, water intake zone means an area surrounding a raw water intake facility for any public water purification system or other public facility producing potable water supplies which area on a river, stream, or bayou shall have a length of not more than five hundred feet upstream and not more than five hundred feet downstream of the water intake facility and a width as follows: fifty feet toward the midstream side of the water intake facility and that portion of the river, between the water intake facility and the bank, batture, or shoreline. For such facilities on a lake or reservoir, the area shall be a three hundred foot radius around the water intake and on that portion of the water body the width of that diameter between the water intake facility and the bank or shoreline.

C.(1) Any person who violates any provisions of this Section shall be subject to a fine of five hundred dollars or imprisonment not to exceed six months or both.

Each day of continuing violation constitutes a separate offense.

(2) No fines or penalties shall be imposed until water intake zones are appropriately designated.

Acts 1991, No. 601, §2, eff. July 16, 1991; Acts 2010, No. 312, §2.