§ 15-1719. Equitable rental for Niagara River water.

The department shall have the power to fix and determine, after a
hearing held upon notice to the parties interested, the amount of an
equitable rental, which is hereby charged pursuant to the reservations
made in chapter 597 of the laws of 1918 for the diversion, as specified
in such chapter, of water from the Niagara River in excess of a daily
diversion at the rate of fifteen thousand one hundred cubic feet per
second, and also, from July 1, 1943, the amount of an equitable rental,
which is hereby charged, for the diversion of water from the Niagara
River to the extent of a daily diversion at the rate of fifteen thousand
one hundred cubic feet per second and not otherwise subject to the
imposition of an equitable rental as specified in such chapter. Such
rental shall be fixed in like manner as if application were made for a
license under the provisions of title 17 of this article before the
water was used, and the people of the state may sue for and collect in
behalf of the state such rentals as so fixed and determined.