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A07377 Summary:

BILL NOA07377
 
SAME ASSAME AS S04815
 
SPONSORStirpe
 
COSPNSR
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Add §130-a, Can L
 
Establishes a stakeholder group in the Oswego river basin to coordinate water release.
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A07377 Memo:

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
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A07377 Text:



 
                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.
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