CODE OF VIRGINIA

REQUIREMENT FOR FISHWAYS (§ 29.1-101.9)

Notwithstanding any provision of § 29.1-532, including the existence or lack
thereof of an exemption pursuant to § 29.1-532, the owner of every dam or other
artificial impediment to the migration of anadromous fish in any tributary of
the Chesapeake Bay, including that portion of the James River downstream from
the City of Lynchburg, shall be responsible to provide appropriate fishways for
anadromous fish as soon as reasonably possible after being offered financing
from the Fund for the estimated construction cost of the fishways as provided in
this article. Any owner of such a dam or other artificial impediment who fails
to provide or to maintain fishways providing substantially free passage for
anadromous fish may be compelled to provide such fishways by injunction in an
action initiated by the Department in an appropriate circuit court.  Nothing in
this section shall relieve the owner of any dam or other object in a
watercourse, which obstructs navigation or the passage of anadromous and other
migratory fish, of any obligations or responsibilities under § 29.1-532.

HISTORY: 1989, c. 5, § 10.1-1221; 1992, cc. 464, 887.