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33 U.S. Code § 677 - Limitation as to quantity of debris washed away

At no time shall any more debris be permitted to be washed away from any hydraulic mine or mines situated on the tributaries of said rivers and the respective branches of each, worked under the provisions of this chapter, than can be impounded within the restraining works erected.

(Mar. 1, 1893, ch. 183, § 17, 27 Stat. 509.)