Preamble. Commissioners. Purpose of compact. CHAPTER 177 AN ACT to adopt a compact made between commissioners appointed by the governor under a law of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and commissioners appointed by the governor under a law of the state of New Jersey, and commissioners appointed by the governor under a law of the state of New York, for the purpose of conserving the water resources of the Delaware river and making allotments therefrom to the said states respectively and determining and adjusting their respective rights therein. Became a law March 18, 1925, with the approval of the Governor. Passed. three-fifths being present. The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows: Section 1. Whereas, commissioners duly appointed on the part of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania and commissioners duly appointed on the part of the state of New Jersey and commissioners duly appointed on the part of the state of New York to negotiate and agree upon the terms of a compact relative to conserving the water resources of the Delaware river and making allotments therefrom to the said states respectively and determining and adjusting their respective rights therein have executed in triplicate an agreement for the purpose aforesaid, one for each state, which agreement is contained in the following words: СОМРАСТ The commonwealth of Pennsylvania by legislative act, approved the twenty-fourth of May anno domini, nineteen hundred and twenty-three (pamphlet laws four hundred and forty-eight), and the state of New Jersey by chapter ninety-four of the laws of nineteen hundred and twenty-three, and the state of New York by chapter fifty-six of the laws of nineteen hundred and twenty-three, having authorized their respective governors to appoint commissioners for the purpose of negotiating a form of compact or treaty between the said three states, and the said states through their governors having appointed as their commissioners: Charles H. Miner, Robert Y. Stuart, Philip P. Wells, for the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. William A. Starrett, Frederick C. Schneider, for the state of New Jersey. George MacDonald, Rudolph Reimer, Jefferson DeMont Thompson, for the state of New York, who, after negotiations, have agreed upon the following articles: ARTICLE I. This compact, between the sovereign states of Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey, is entered into for the purpose of conserving by storage and otherwise for all uses the water resources of the said states in the Delaware river, its tributaries and drainage area and, as a means to that end, for making allotments from the said water resources to the said states respectively and determining and adjusting their respective rights therein. ARTICLE II. of Where used in this compact, singular words shall be construed Construcas including the plural, masculine words shall be construed as words. including the feminine and neuter, and the following terms and Definitions. expressions shall have the meanings as respectively designated for each : Delaware The term "waters of the Delaware river" means all of the sur- Water of face waters which, following their natural courses, flow into the river. channel of the Delaware river above that point in the said channel which marks the boundary between the states of Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Delaware The term "channel of the Delaware river" means the lands Channel of and bed of the river on and over which the waters of the Dela- river. ware river flow, beginning at that point near "Monument island" which is the northeastern corner of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania and extending thence continuously as the said channel winds and turns to the point which is the common boundary between the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. area of The term "drainage area of the Delaware river" means the Drainage entire area of both land and water from which the surface waters Delaware naturally flow into the channel of the Delaware river. river. The term "tributary" or "tributary of the Delaware river" Tributary. means any watercourse, the waters of which naturally reach the channel of the said river. and The term "domestic and municipal" as applied to the use of Domestic water means the use of water by or for waterworks serving the municipal. public. tion. The term "sanitation" as applied to the use of water means Sanitathe use of water for the conveyance of sewage and industrial wastes. The term "sewage means any substance or liquid containing Sewage. any of the waste products or excrementitious or other discharges from the bodies of human beings or animals. waste. The term "industrial waste' means any liquid or solid sub- Industrial stance, not sewage, resulting from any process employed in manufacturing or industry. returned. The term "water returned" or its equivalent means the return Water into a tributary or into the channel of the Delaware river of water after the same has been used for any purpose and in this sense the terms "sewage" and "industrial waste" shall be construed as being "water returned". The term "industry" as applied to the use of water means Industry. the use of water for manufacturing and industrial purposes in all cases in which the water used is not taken from a public water supply system. The term "power" as applied to the use of water means the Power. use of water for the development of energy whether that use be direct or indirect. Navigation. Develop, developed, development. Point of development. Divert, diversion. Point of diversion. Developed for diversion. Ordinary flow. Ordinary low flow. Allotment. New York New Jersey state line. The term "navigation" as applied to the use of water means the use of water for transportation and for the operation of water craft for all purposes. The term develop," "developed" or "development," when referring to the use of water from the channel of the Delaware river or a tributary shall include any means for making the water available for use by the construction of any intake, dam or other works. The term "point of development" means the point nearest the mouth of a tributary at which any dam or intake is built in connection with any development of the waters of such tributary. The term "divert" or "diversion" when referring to water in the channel of the Delaware river means the taking or removal of water from the said channel when the water taken or removed is not returned into the said channel within a distance of twelve miles below the point of diversion measured along the center line of the said channel. The term "divert" or "diversion" when referring to the water of a tributary of the Delaware river means the taking or removal of water from that tributary or from any portion thereof when the water taken or removed is not returned into the channel of the Delaware river either above the point at which the tributary enters the said channel or within a distance of twelve miles below that point, measured along the center line of the said channel. The term "point of diversion" means the point or place at which water is taken or removed from a tributary or from the channel of the Delaware river. The term "developed for diversion" means conservation of water by storage or otherwise on or from any one or more tributaries for the purpose of diversion at any point on the tributary or trib utaries, or at some lower point in the channel of the Delaware river after the water shall have reached said lower point as water in transit. The term "ordinary flow" means a flow of forty-five hundredths of a cubic foot per second for each square mile of drainage area above the point at which the "ordinary flow" is to be determined. The term "ordinary low flow" means a flow of fifteen hundredths of a cubic foot per second for each square mile of drainage area above the point at which the "ordinary low flow" is to be determined. The term "allotment" means the share of any signatory state in the water flowing in the channel of the Delaware river which is in excess of all water in transit. The term "New York-New Jersey state line" means the boundary line between the states of New York and New Jersey, which line, for the purposes of this compact, shall be considered as crossing the channel of the Delaware river due east to the so-called "tri-state rock" and continuing thence in a southeasterly direction across the Neversink river to a rock on the west shore of the Hudson river near the village of Nyack. transit. The term "water in transit" means water which has been Water in developed by storage or otherwise and which is flowing in the channel of the Delaware river under the provisions of article seven. The term "point of storage" means the point or place in the Point of channel of the Delaware river at which a dam is maintained. The term 'commission' means the tri-state Delaware river Commiscommission. ARTICLE III. storage. sion. import In the development, use or diversion of the waters of the Dela- Order of ware river and in all considerations of quantity and preservation ance of of quality the order of importance and public value of water shall use of be as follows: (A) domestic and municipal, (B) sanitation, (C) industry and power, and (D) navigation. ARTICLE IV. water. Any administrative department, political subdivision, corpora- Exercise tion, partnership, association or person authorized in that behalf of rights. by or under the laws of any signatory state may exercise the rights and privileges herein conferred on such state, subject to the duties and obligations herein imposed on such state. ARTICLE V. ment of Any tributary or any part of any tributary of the Delaware Develop river may be developed for any purpose by or under the authority tribuof the signatory state in which it is located, and water so developed taries. may be diverted for use at any point either within or without the drainage area of the Delaware river. In case water so Restricdeveloped is diverted, then the following restrictions and limitations shall apply: 1. Every such development shall be carried out in compliance with the legislative provisions governing such matters in the state in which it is located. 2. Every such development shall be so planned and the works shall be so constructed as to bring about the greatest practicable conservation and use of the waters of the tributary on which it is located. 3. In the case of every such development located above the New York-New Jersey state line there shall be maintained below the point of development during the months of July, August, September and October a reserve flow equal to the ordinary flow at that point, and also if at any other time during the year the flow in the tributary at the point of development is less than the ordinary flow at that point, then a reserve flow equal to the ordinary flow shall be maintained below the point of development. In the case of every such development located below the New York-New Jersey state line there shall, at all times, be maintained below the point of development a reserve flow equal to the ordinary low flow at that point. 4. The total drainage area in any state which may be developed for diversion under the provisions of this article shall not exceed tions. Allotment and diversion of excess water York-New three-fifths of the drainage area of the Delaware river which lies within that state. ARTICLE VI. All water which, at any time, is flowing in the channel of the Delaware river above the New York-New Jersey state line and which is in excess of all water in transit in said channel is allotted above New to the states of New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, and with Jersey line. the approval of the commission, as provided in article eight hereof, each of these states may divert from the said channel at any point, above the said state line, that portion of its allotment which is in excess of a reserve flow of fifteen hundredths of a cubic foot per second for each square mile of drainage area above the point of diversion and at any point below the New York-New Jersey state line each of the said states may divert that portion of its allotment which is in excess of a reserve flow of twelve hundredths of a cubic foot per second for each square mile of drainage area above the New York-New Jersey state line. The allotments of the respective states shall be computed from time to time as follows: Allotments, how computed. Allotment and diversion of excess water below New York-New Jersey line. In case no tributary within the drainage area above the New York-New Jersey state line shall have been developed for diversion, then the allotment of each state, at any point in the channel of the Delaware river above the said state line, hereinafter called the normal allotment, shall be one-third of the total water which may. at any time, be flowing in said channel at that point. In case one or more tributaries within said drainage area shall have been developed for diversion by only one of the signatory states, then the respective allotments of the signatory states shall be determined by the following rule: The allotment of said diverting state shall be determined by subtracting from its normal allotment an amount to be computed by multiplying said normal allotment by a fraction, the numerator of which shall be the total drainage area developed for diversion on said tributaries within that state above the New York-New Jersey state line and the denominator of said fraction shall be the total drainage area above the said state line; and the allotment of each one of the other two states shall be determined by adding to its normal allotment one-half of the amount subtracted from the allotment of the diverting state. In case tributaries within the drainage area above the New York-New Jersey state line shall have been developed for diversion by two or more states the rule herein above stated shall be applied separately and in turn as to each diverting state, and the subtractions from and additions to the normal allotments of the states, thus determined, shall fix the allotments of the states as of that time. All water which originates within the drainage area below the New York-New Jersey state line and enters the channel of the Delaware river below that line and which is in excess of all water in transit in said channel is hereby allotted to the states of New Jersey and Pennsylvania and with the approval of the commission as provided in article eight hereof, each of said states may divert from said channel at any point below the said state line that portion of |