§ 15-0103 — Legislative findings

§ 15-0103. Legislative findings.\n Article 15 shall be construed and administered in the light of the\nfollowing findings of fact:\n 1. The sovereign power to regulate and control the water resources of\nthis state ever since its establishment has been and now is vested\nexclusively in the state of New York, except to the extent of any\ndelegation of power to the United States;\n 2. New York State has been generously endowed with water resources\nwhich have contributed and continue to contribute greatly to the\nposition of preeminence attained by New York in population, agriculture,\ncommerce, trade, industry and outdoor recreation;\n 3. Adequate and suitable water for water supply, domestic, municipal,\nindustrial, agricultural and commercial uses, power, irrigation,\ntransportation, fire protection, sewage and waste assimilation, the\ngrowth of forests, maintenance of fish and wildlife, recreational\nenjoyment and other uses is essential to the health, safety and welfare\nof the people and economic growth and prosperity of the state;\n 4. In recent years our population growth and the development and use\nof new technology and processes have resulted in demands for more water\nand the equitable use thereof for these purposes;\n 5. In recent years recreational activities are making new and greater\ndemands on lakes and streams of the state for boating, fishing, bathing\nand water sports, and the lands adjacent thereto for campsites, access\nareas and public beaches;\n 6. The growth of cities and urban areas and their expansion into\nformerly rural areas has in many cases resulted in the filling in,\ndiversion and destruction of water courses, necessarily destroying\naquatic habitat and lessening supplies of water for multiple use\npurposes;\n 7. Increased motorized highway travel and public safety are requiring\nthe construction of new, better and larger public highways which may\nalter the water ways of the state and encroach upon water courses and\naffect their uses;\n 8. All fish, game, wildlife, shellfish, crustacea and protected\ninsects in the state, except those legally acquired and held in private\nownership, are owned by the state and held for the use and enjoyment of\nthe people of the state, and the state has a responsibility to preserve,\nprotect and conserve such terrestrial and aquatic resources from\ndestruction and damage and to promote their natural propagation;\n 9. The unreasonable, uncontrolled and unnecessary interference with or\ndefilement and disturbance of water courses create hazards to the\nhealth, safety and welfare of the people of the state causing great\neconomic loss by erosion of soil, increased costs of water purification\nand treatment, the loss of crop lands and forests by flooding, the\ndestruction and failure of natural propagation of fish and aquatic\nresources and the loss of water for domestic, industrial, navigational,\nmunicipal, agricultural, recreational and other beneficial uses and\npurposes;\n 10. The unreasonable and unregulated (a) interference with the\nchannels and beds of lakes and streams by construction of dams, roads\nand other structures, (b) alteration of water courses and gradients, (c)\nimpounding of water, (d) dredging and filling in of stream beds, and the\nunreasonable removal of sand, gravel or other materials from streams,\nand by other action, have resulted in pollution of such waters, increase\nin turbidity and the deposit of silt and debris, irregular variations of\nvelocity, temperature and levels of water, erosion of banks and uplands\nand the flooding of valuable lands;\n 11. The department, and two of its predecessors, the Water Resources\nCommission and the Water Pollution Control Board, has classified\nsubstantially all of the waters of the state;\n 12. The department, pursuant to title 11 of article 15 of the\nEnvironmental Conservation Law, is continuing the work of its\npredecessor, the Water Resources Commission in undertaking comprehensive\nplanning for the protection, conservation and development of the water\nresources of the state;\n 13. It is in the best interest of the state that provision be made for\nthe regulation and supervision of activities that deplete, defile,\ndamage or otherwise adversely affect the waters of the state and land\nresources associated therewith.\n