Annual & Application Dam Fees

In 2004, funding to support the California Dam Safety Program was converted from the State General Fund to a Special Fund that collects fees paid by dam owners.  As a result, the annual schedule of fees in section 6307 of the Water Code was amended by Senate Bill 1049 (Chapter 741, Statues of 2003).  Senate Bill 92 (Chapter 26, Statues of 2017) was signed into law, and it removed the annual schedule of fees from statute and required the Department to adopt, by regulation, a schedule of fees to cover the Department’s reasonable regulatory costs in carrying out the supervision of dam safety.  By statute, the adopted schedule of fees must be based, in part, on the height of the dam.  The regulations in effect for the annual schedule of fees were approved by the Office of Administrative Law on March 26, 2018.  The fee structure for application filing fees remains unchanged.

These fees support a wide variety of activities, including the annual inspections of dams in certified status; application review and construction inspection work; engineering studies that include hydrologic, structural, and seismic stability re-evaluations; emergency response; and review and approval of mandated flood inundation maps of dams and critical appurtenant structures for emergency preparedness.

Annual Fees

Each dam in our jurisdiction pays an annual fee as outlined in section 6307 of the Water Code.  Effective May 1, 2019, permanent annual fee regulations under the California Code of Regulations, Title 23, Division 2, Chapter, 1 Article 3, section 315 went into effect that include a new fee formula beginning Fiscal Year 2020/21. The new formula includes an additional surcharge on critical appurtenant structures (CAS), which redistributes annual fees to more closely align a dam’s annual fee with the additional regulatory oversight required for dams that have CAS.  The current fees for jurisdictional dams are:

 

* Inoperable dams pay the Limited Rate, which is only the Admin Fee.

** CAS Fee does not apply to dams with a "Low" downstream hazard classification.

*** Maximum number of CAS is not to exceed two (2).

The fee height of a dam, as determined by DSOD, is the vertical distance measured from the lowest point at the downstream toe of the dam to its maximum storage elevation, which is typically the spillway crest.

Application Fees

Background

An application is required for the construction of a new jurisdictional-sized dam or reservoir and for the enlargement, alteration, repair, or removal of an existing dam or reservoir.  As required by section 6300 of the California Water Code (Water Code), applications are to be accompanied by a filing fee based on the estimated project cost and the fee schedule set forth in the same section. Senate Bill 122, effective July 10, 2023, updated the application filing fee schedule set in section 6300 and requires the filing fee schedule to be adjusted annually to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index.

Application Filing Fee Schedule Adjustment

In accordance with section 6300, DSOD will adjust the filing fee schedule every July 1 using the Consumer Price Index for goods and services published by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Adjustments will be based upon the change in the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U) from the preceding calendar year as shown below:

CPI-U in December 2022: 296.797

CPI-U in December 2023: 306.746

Change in CPI-U = 306.746 – 296.797 = 9.949

Change in CPI-U (%) = 9.949 / 296.797 = 3.35%

For Fiscal Year 2024/2025 (July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025), an application shall be accompanied by a filing fee based upon the estimated project cost and according to the following schedule that has been adjusted upward by 3.35 percent of the FY 2023/2024 fee schedule.

 

Fiscal Year 2024/2025 Application Fee Schedule
A fee of	Based on the Project Cost
3.36%	For the first	$1,000,000
2.58%	For the next	$4,000,000
2.07%	For the next	$15,000,000
1.81%	For the next	$30,000,000
1.29%	For the next	$100,000,000
0.78%	For the next	$350,000,000
0.52%	For all costs in excess of	$500,000,000

 

Application filing fees are rounded to the nearest dollar and the minimum filing fee is $1,000.  All applications are subject to the filing fee schedule specific to the year in which the application was considered complete by DSOD.  The filing fee schedule remains in effect through the completion of construction and close out of the application.

Per Water Code section 6302 the project cost estimate includes:

• The cost of all labor and materials entering into the construction of the dam and appurtenant works or reservoir.
• The cost of preliminary investigations and surveys.
• The cost of the construction plant properly chargeable to the cost of the dam or reservoir.
• The labor costs of the owner for preparing environmental documentation to meet the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code).
• Any and all other items entering directly into the cost of the dam or reservoir.

Per Water Code section 6303, the costs of right-of-way, detached powerhouses, electrical generating machinery, and roads and railroads affording access to the dam or reservoir should not be included among the items used in the determination of a project’s cost.

As required by Water Code section 6304, an application will not be considered by DSOD until at least 20 percent of the filing fee is received, unless DSOD, in its discretion, decides to consider the application. The application shall not be approved by DSOD until the filing fee is received in full.

In the event the actual cost exceeds the estimated cost by more than 15 percent, a further fee will be required. The further fee will be calculated as 115 percent of the difference between the fee required based on the actual project cost and the original fee paid per Water Code section 6305.  No further fee shall be required if the further fee computed by DSOD is less than five hundred dollars ($500).

Application Fee Calculation Tool (Currently Unavailable)

Please contact DSOD to determine your application filing fee.