A.  It shall be unlawful for any person to abandon any vessel or object of any kind in the restricted area surrounding a raw water intake facility for any public water purification system or other public facility producing potable water supplies.

B.  Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, including but not limited to Civil Code Article 456, the various waterworks districts or local political subdivisions with water intake facilities within their territorial limits may regulate, restrict, or prohibit the use of the banks, batture, or shoreline of any water body, within such restricted area.

C.  “Restricted area”, as used in this Section, means that area of the bank, batture, or shoreline within a reasonable distance of not greater than five hundred feet on a river, stream, or bayou, or not greater than three hundred feet on a lake or reservoir from a raw water intake facility, as determined by the waterworks district or local political subdivision having jurisdiction over such water intake facility, to adequately protect the raw water intake facility and the potable water supply from physical damage, pollutants, or other circumstances which would endanger public health, safety, or welfare.

D.  The waterworks district or local political subdivision shall clearly mark each such restricted area protecting a water intake facility with signs or other markings on the bank designating the limits of the restricted area.  Such signs or markings shall be of a size or nature so as to be clearly visible and readable to adequately warn persons approaching the restricted area.

E.  Any person who violates the provisions of this Section or any ordinance adopted pursuant hereto shall be subject to a fine of five hundred dollars or imprisonment not to exceed six months or both.  Each day of continuing violation constitutes a separate offense.

F.  Nothing in this Section shall apply to:

(1)  Seagoing vessels anchored or moored in federally established anchorages.

(2)  Docks and other facilities located in a restricted area on the Mississippi River on July 16, 1991, or on other water bodies on July 1, 2010.

Acts 1991, No. 601, §1, eff. July 16, 1991; Acts 2010, No. 312, §1.