Dam Safety, Floodplain & Shoreland Management (DSFM)

Dams have a significant impact on water quality, wildlife, public safety, water rights issues, and land use in Wisconsin.

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Dam Safety: Chapter 31, created in 1917 under the Water Power Law, was developed to ensure that dams are safely built, operated and maintained.

NR 333 provides design and construction standards for large dams and NR 335 covers the administration of the Municipal Dam Repair and Removal Grant Program. DNR is responsible for administration of these regulations. Chapter 31 covers dam construction, permitting, safety, operation and maintenance. It also covers alteration or repair of dams, dam transfer and removal, and water level and flow control.

Floodplain Management: Under this program, Wisconsin´s counties, cities and villages are required to zone their flood prone areas. The state has set minimum standards for local regulations, but local governments can set more restrictive standards.

Floodplain zoning regulates how development can actually occur within floodplains. The program´s main goal is to protect people and their property from unwise floodplain development, as well as to protect society from the costs which are associated with developed floodplains.

Shoreland Management: Maintaining the quality of these waters and the beauty of the shorelands is vital to our future, and the goal of the Wisconsin´s Shoreland Management Program.

Wisconsin´s Shoreland Management Program is a partnership between state and local government that requires the adoption of county shoreland zoning ordinances to regulate development near navigable lakes and streams, in compliance with statewide minimum standards. These minimum statewide standards, found in ch. NR 115, Wis. Admin. Code, seek to create a balance between private rights and public responsibilities of landowners.

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