Summary of Fish and Game Code 1600-1607

Summary

• The Department of Fish and Game's Lake and Streambed Alteration Program (Section 1600-1607) requires any person who proposes a project that will substantially divert or obstruct the natural flow or substantially change the bed, channel, or bank of any river, stream, or lake or use materials from a streambed to notify the Department before beginning the project.
  
  
• Under section 1601 of the Fish and Game Code, before any State or local governmental agency or public utility begins a construction project that will:
  1) divert, obstruct, or change the natural flow or the bed, channel, or bank of any river, stream, or lake;
  2) use materials from a streambed; or
  3) result in the disposal or deposition of debris, waste, or other material containing crumbled, flaked, or ground pavement where it can pass into any river, stream, or lake, it must first notify the Department of the proposed project.
  
  
• Notification is generally required for any project that will take place in or in the vicinity of a river, stream, lake, or their tributaries. This includes rivers or streams that flow at least periodically or permanently through a bed or channel with banks that support fish or other aquatic life and watercourses having a surface or subsurface flow that support or have supported riparian vegetation. If you are not certain that your proposed project will require a Lake or Streambed Alteration Agreement, the Department recommends that you submit a complete notification package.
  
  
• A notification package includes: a Notification of Lake or Streambed Alteration form and a Project Questionnaire form.
  
  
• If the Department determines that your proposed project may substantially adversely affect existing fish or wildlife resources, you will need to obtain a Lake or Streambed Alteration Agreement from the Department and your proposed project, unless it is otherwise exempt, will have to be reviewed in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) (Pub. Resources Code, § 21000 et seq.) before you may begin any work.
  
  
• If the Department determines that you will need a Lake or Streambed Alteration Agreement, you may not begin your project until the Department develops a draft Lake or Streambed Alteration Agreement and the project described in that agreement is reviewed as required by CEQA, unless it is otherwise exempt from CEQA review. By working with the Department to develop a draft Lake or Streambed Alteration Agreement, you may be able to modify your project to avoid or lessen potential impacts to fish and wildlife resources. This would simplify CEQA review of your project and expedite the issuance of a final agreement.