Senate Bill S8924

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S8924

SPONSOR: RYAN C
 
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 co-ordinate 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 responsible to control flood water in the river basin, commu-
nity stakeholder groups, the Department of Environmental Conservation,
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 Governor, 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 was 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 commu-
nities 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, wide-spread-
ing flood events in the spring of 1993 (snowmelt and precipitation
event), and June 1972 (remnants of FLrricaofiurreaeresulLedover $5:).5
million in damage in the sectors of residential, 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 noLmal
conditions as well as flood events." Moreso, 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 enactment. The same protection
should be extended to the Oswego River basin. The stakeholder group
would have the ability to recommend creation of an Oswego River Basin
Regulating District, similar to the Hudson River districts, for long
term flood mitigation and water management. No longer should the commu-
nities 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 mitigate
floods and coordinate water release in the Oswego river basin.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2024-25: Passed Senate. Vetoed.

2023-24: Passed Senate. Vetoed.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.