NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7377
SPONSOR: Stirpe TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the canal law, in relation to establishing a stakeholder
group to coordinate water release in the Oswego river basin
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
The purpose of this bill is to create a stakeholder group to mitigate
floods and coordinate water release in the Oswego River basin.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of this bill would direct the Canal Corporation to form a
stakeholder group to evaluate approaches to coordinating water releases
in the Oswego river basin, which would include all entities with the
ability or responsibility to control flood water in the river basin,
community stakeholder groups, the Department of Environmental Conserva-
tion, and subject matter experts. This stakeholder group would review
all available information regarding utilizing flood storage above lake
rule curves, and watershed releases during high flow events, in the
Oswego River basin. They would then make recommendations to the Gover-
nor, the Temporary President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the
Assembly on a regulatory structure to coordinate communication and water
releases during high-flow events.
Section 2 of this bill provides that the effective date shall take
effect immediately.
JUSTIFICATION:
In 1913 flooding ravaged the city of Albany. Called "the Great Flood,"
water levels rose twenty feet high and damaged homes and businesses
throughout the city and the Hudson River valley. The Legislature, seek-
ing to prevent future flooding along the State's longest and most
economically important waterway, enacted legislation to establish river
regulating districts that were tasked with mitigating future flood
events. The aftermath and recovery from the Great Flood were long and
extensive; however, over the course of the hundred-plus years since the
creation of the Hudson River Regulating Districts the State has
prevented flooding in thousands of homes and businesses, and saved
millions of dollars.
In July 2023, heavy rainfall inundated the lakes, streams, and rivers.
of the Oswego River Basin, which created floods that destroyed local
communities in the basin. The July 2023 flooding was not a unique event.
According to the report authored.by the Upstate Flood Mitigation Task
Force, "....The Oswego River Basin experienced devastating, widespread-
ing flood events in the spring of 1993 (snowmelt and precipitation
event), and June 1972. 5 million in damage in the sectors of residen-
tial, commercial, public, and agricultural infrastructure." Flooding in
the Oswego River basin is routine and similar to the flood events that
occurred in the Hudson River basin a century ago.
Furthermore, according to the Task Force report, "There is a need for
better coordination between water management entities during normal
conditions as well as flood events." More so, the Task Force urges the
study and formation of a state entity that would "....initiate an inde-
pendent water regulating district with the authority to direct water
releases."
It is in the interest of the State to ensure that proper measures for
flood mitigation and the management of water flows are established in
order to safeguard the residents and businesses of the Oswego River
basin. This bill would establish an Oswego River Basin stakeholder group
that would review and produce recommendations about how to mitigate
flood events and manage the flow of water in the Oswego River basin.
The protection provided by the Hudson River Regulating Districts plays
an important part in mitigating floods along the Hudson River basin.
The century-old preventative legislation has proven invaluable year
after year and decade after decade since its enactment. The same
protection should be extended to the Oswego River basin. The stakeholder
group would have the ability to recommend the creation of an Oswego
River Basin Regulating District, like the Hudson River districts, for
long-term flood mitigation and water management. No longer should the
communities in the Oswego River basin, habitually devastated by floods
and high water, be forced to subsist on a schedule of boom and bust,
flood and rebuild. This bill would create a stakeholder group to miti-
gate floods and coordinate water release in the Oswego River basin.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023 - 2024: passed senate / VETOED BY GOVERNOR
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7377
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 25, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. STIRPE -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions
AN ACT to amend the canal law, in relation to establishing a stakeholder
group to coordinate water release in the Oswego river basin
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The canal law is amended by adding a new section 130-a to
2 read as follows:
3 § 130-a. Oswego river basin water release coordination. 1. The corpo-
4 ration, in consultation with the department of environmental conserva-
5 tion, shall, within six months of the effective date of this section,
6 form a stakeholder group to evaluate approaches to coordinating water
7 releases in the Oswego river basin. Such stakeholder group shall include
8 all entities with the ability or responsibility to control flood water
9 discharges either directly to or from major water bodies within the
10 Oswego river basin and their tributaries, community stakeholder groups,
11 the department of environmental conservation, and subject matter
12 experts.
13 2. The stakeholder group shall review all available information
14 regarding utilizing flood storage above lake rule curves, and watershed
15 releases during high flow events, in the Oswego river basin, including
16 any relevant modeling. Within six months of the formation of the stake-
17 holder group, the stakeholder group shall make recommendations to the
18 governor, the temporary president of the senate and the speaker of the
19 assembly on a regulatory structure to coordinate communication and water
20 releases during high flow events. In making such recommendations, the
21 stakeholder group shall consider a variety of alternatives, including
22 but not limited to:
23 (a) recommending a continuation, expansion, or reconstitution of the
24 stakeholder group for such purpose;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09563-01-5
A. 7377 2
1 (b) recommending a legislative mandate for coordination of water
2 releases; or
3 (c) recommending the legislature initiate an independent water regu-
4 lating district with the authority to direct water releases pursuant to
5 title twenty-one of article fifteen of the environmental conservation
6 law.
7 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
