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• Overview
• Arrangement
• Administrative History
• Scope and Contents
• Related Material
• Other Finding Aids
• Access Restrictions
• Processing Information
• Access Terms
• Detailed Description
• subseries
• subseries
• subseries
• subseries
• subseries
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New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Minutes of Division of Water Predecessor Agencies

Some content may contain outdated and offensive terminology. See: New York State Archives Statement on Language in Descriptive Resources

Overview of the Records

Arrangement

Organized into six subseries: Water Storage Commission, Water Supply Commission, Conservation Commission regarding the Canaseraga Creek Improvement District, New York Water Power Commission, Water Power and Control Commission, and Water Resources Commission. Arranged by agency, then chronological by date of meeting.

Administrative History

The Water Storage Commission was established in 1902 to investigate and report on the State's water supply. In 1905, the State Water Supply Commission was created to administer a systematic plan for maintaining water supplies for the State's municipalities. The commission reviewed applications and approved all maps and profiles related to sources of water supply. In 1906, the Water Supply Commission absorbed the River Improvement Commission that was responsible for regulating the flow of water courses in the aid of public health and safety. The commission reviewed applications from municipalities and then authorized preliminary surveys and investigations into the causes and solutions to the water flow problems. Any improvements could only be undertaken under specific legislative authorization. In 1906, the legislature approved a statewide improvement plan for the regulation of the flow of Canaseraga Creek. An important tributary of the Genesee River, heavy silt deposits and the irregular course of the creek caused severe annual flooding in Livingston County. The slow subsidence of floodwaters on the flat land impaired cultivation and caused damage. When the functions and powers of the Water Supply Commission were incorporated within the Conservation Commission in 1911, the Conservation Commission took up the important issue of the Canaseraga Creek Improvement District.

In 1921, the Water Power Commission was established to issue licenses for the development of power resources. In 1926, the Conservation Department assumed the functions of the Water Power Commission and the Water Control Commission, which had been established in 1922 to supervise water flow and supply. The Division of Water Power and Control, headed by the Water Power and Control Commission, was created within the Conservation Department to carry out this mandate. In 1960, the titles of the Division of Water Power and Control and the Water Power and Control Commission were changed to the Division of Water Resources and the Water Resources Commission, respectively.

Scope and Content Note

This series consists of original meeting minutes of the Division of Water's predecessor agencies: Water Storage Commission, Water Supply Commission, Conservation Commission regarding the Canaseraga Creek Improvement District, Water Power Commission, Water Power and Control Commission, and Water Resources Commission. Taken as a whole, the minutes document New York State's decisions, actions, and policies through much of the twentieth century on matters concerning water and the environment. Meeting minutes deal with such issues as public water supplies and water supply applications, sewage disposal, water resources planning, and flood control. The series has been organized into six subseries reflecting each of the predecessor agencies.

Related Material

A0890 Comptroller's Office, Canaseraga Creek improvement records, 1906-1915

20653 Bureau of Water Permits, Application files pertaining to Public Water Supply Systems, 1905-1980 and

16828 Division of Water, Water Supply Commission survey questionnaires, 1905-1906 contain related records.

Other Finding Aids

Available at Repository

A container list is available. Most volumes contain subject indexes with corresponding meeting dates.

Processing Information

This collection's description was enhanced as a part of the New York State Archives Environmental History Virtual Research Collection Project, 2004. The National Endowment for the Humanities provided funding for this project.

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of the material.

Access Terms

Detailed Description

Subseries : Minutes of the Water Storage Commission

Scope and Content Note:

This subseries forms part of the series, Minutes of the Water Division predecessor agencies. The Water Storage Commission meeting minutes, 1902-1903 address such subjects as the causes of floods, including the danger of high water produced by ices gorges, and possible remedial actions to prevent such occurrences.

Arrangement:

Chronological by date of meeting.

  

Subseries : Minutes of the Water Supply Commission

Scope and Content Note:

This subseries forms part of the series, Minutes of the Water Division predecessor agencies. The minutes of the Water Supply Commission, 1905-1911, address statewide investigations of municipal water supply systems and methods of sewage disposal; municipal water purity and availability; and the regulation of the flow of rivers in order to prevent floods. Also included here are the Records of Proceedings of the Commission, 1905 – 1907.

Arrangement:

Chronological by date of meeting.

Other Descriptive Data:

Most volumes contain subject indexes with corresponding meeting dates.

  

Subseries : Minutes of the Conservation Commission regarding the Canaseraga Creek Improvement District

Scope and Content Note:

This subseries forms part of the series, Minutes of the Water Division predecessor agencies. The records of the Canaseraga Creek Improvement District Conservation Commission, 1915-1921 document efforts to redress the situation posed by damage to the public health, through an approved state improvement project.

Arrangement:

Chronological by date of meeting.

  

Subseries : Minutes of the New York Water Power Commission

Scope and Content Note:

This subseries forms part of the series, Minutes of the Water Division predecessor agencies. The New York Water Power Commission minutes, 1921-1926 address investigations, plans, and specifications for water power development, including applications for permits to use waters for the development of hydraulic and hydroelectric power.

Arrangement:

Chronological by date of meeting

  

Subseries : Minutes of the Water Power and Control Commission

Scope and Content Note:

This subseries forms part of the series, Minutes of the Water Division predecessor agencies. The minutes from the Water Power and Control Commission (1927-1960), later known as the Water Resources Commission focus on such issues as river improvement, river regulation for storage reservoirs, river regulation by storage reservoirs, drainage improvement districts, and water supply applications.

Arrangement:

Chronological by date of meeting.

Other Descriptive Data:

Most volumes contain subject indexes with corresponding meeting dates.

  

Subseries : Minutes of the Water Resources Commission

Scope and Content Note:

The minutes from the Water Resources Commission, 1960-1970, (previously known as the Water Power and Control Commission), focus on such issues as river improvement, river regulation for storage reservoirs, river regulation by storage reservoirs, drainage improvement districts, and water supply applications.

Arrangement:

Chronological by date of meeting.

Other Descriptive Data:

Most volumes contain subject indexes with corresponding meeting dates.