Safe Dams Program

Certain classes of dams are exempt from regulation under the Safe Dams Act. The main exemption is for "farm ponds". Farm ponds are defined in the regulations as "...any impoundment used only for providing water for agriculture and domestic purposes such as livestock and poultry watering, irrigation of crops, recreation, and conservation, for the owner or occupant of the farm, his family, and invited guests, but does not include any impoundment for which the water, or privileges or products of the water, are available to the general public." A farm pond is exempt from the Safe Dams Act, but may NOT be exempt from other permitting requirements such as ARAP, etc.

Construction or alteration of a dam may also require permits from the Natural Resources Unit of the Division of Water Resources and a Section 404 permit from the US Army Corps of Engineers and/or a Section 26-A permit from Tennessee Valley Authority. Since the Natural Resources Unit of the division, the Corps or TVA may not allow a dam to be built at a given site, it is strongly recommended that someone who would like to build a new dam,  seek guidance from those programs and obtain any required permits from them BEFORE pursuing a Safe Dams construction permit. 

As mentioned above, the construction of dams on streams or creeks in Tennessee in most cases requires an Aquatic Resource Alteration Permit from the Division of Water Resources. Streams and creeks are protected for uses such as irrigation, recreation, fish and aquatic life, and livestock water and wildlife. ARAP permits may not be issued for alterations that would damage those uses unless there is an over-riding social or economic benefit to the local community.

The basic purpose of a dam, which is to impound flow, can significantly impact downstream waters. Dams on small streams (headwaters) interrupt the normal stream flow downstream. Depending on the size of the pond or lake relative to the watershed upstream of it, the impoundment will typically not stay filled and overflowing -- especially during summer months.

Building a dam on a stream is known to degrade not just water quantity, but also water quality. Impounded waters become stagnant and are a profoundly different ecological environment than a free-flowing stream. In general, most aquatic species that inhabit a natural free-flowing stream cannot survive in an impoundment. Water quality problems most commonly associated with stagnated waters include elevated water temperatures, decreased dissolved oxygen, elevated metals (manganese and iron) from reduction and oxidation in the bed of the reservoir, elevated nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus.  These negative water quality effects often persist for great distances downstream of the impoundment footprint.

The department’s investigations show that most headwater impoundments, because of interruption of flow and degradation of water quality, damage uses of the streams within, and downstream of the dam. Where degradation to water quality will occur, the regulations allow that where an applicant can demonstrate a substantial need, such as a public water supply, or can demonstrate that it will only have insignificant consequence may a permit be approved. It is an applicant’s responsibility to show a social or economic benefit that would justify degradation to water quality and show that there is no alternative to achieve the social and economic benefit that does not degrade water quality.