Payment for water diverted as provided in R.S. 58:2-1 shall be deemed to be a license and its amount shall be fixed by the department at a rate of not less than $1.00 nor more than $10.00 per million gallons. If at all times an amount equal to the average daily flow for the driest month, as shown by the existing records, or in lieu thereof 125,000 gallons daily for each square mile of unappropriated watershed above the point of diversion, shall be allowed to flow down the stream. The department shall fix the minimum rate and may increase the rate proportionally as a lesser amount is allowed to flow down the stream below the point of diversion, due account being taken in fixing said increase both of the duration and amount of the deficiency. The aforesaid 125,000 gallons daily for each square mile of unappropriated watershed shall be additional to the dry-season flow or any part thereof which may be allowed to flow from any appropriated watershed or watersheds above the point of diversion.

Water diverted within the corporate limits of a municipality for manufacturing and fire purposes only and returned without pollution to the stream from which it was taken within said corporate limits shall not be reckoned in making up the aggregate amount diverted.

Any party aggrieved by the action of the department upon filing written complaint on or before March twentieth, shall be heard and permitted to give evidence of the facts, and the sum fixed may be changed, reduced, or cancelled, as the facts may warrant.

Amended by L.1981, c. 262, s. 21, eff. Aug. 13, 1981.