Sec. 12. (a) The department may not issue a permit for the construction of a channel into a public freshwater lake unless:
(1) the channel follows the path of a stream already in existence; or
(2) the applicant proves that fifty-one percent (51%) of the property owners abutting the shoreline of the public freshwater lake approve of the channel construction.
(b) This section does not prevent the department from issuing a permit to construct small private drainage channels.