Title 42The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-73

§1962d–4 Northeastern United States water supply

Title 42 › Chapter CHAPTER 19B— - WATER RESOURCES PLANNING › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER IV— - MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS › § 1962d–4

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Requires the federal government to help plan and build large water supplies for the northeastern United States. The Secretary of the Army, through the Chief of Engineers, may work with federal, state, and local agencies under the Water Resources Planning Act to make long‑range plans. Those plans can include reservoirs in river basins that drain to the Chesapeake Bay, the Atlantic north of the Chesapeake Bay, Lake Ontario, and the Saint Lawrence River; facilities to move water between basins; and major water treatment plants. States and local governments must help pay. The Secretary must build, operate, and maintain facilities the plan recommends only if Congress specifically authorizes them in a law passed after October 27, 1965. Each reservoir is treated as part of both its river‑basin development plan and the overall Northeast plan.

Full Legal Text

Title 42, §1962d–4

The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Congress hereby recognizes that assuring adequate supplies of water for the great metropolitan centers of the United States has become a problem of such magnitude that the welfare and prosperity of this country require the Federal Government to assist in the solution of water supply problems. Therefore, the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, is authorized to cooperate with Federal, State, and local agencies in preparing plans in accordance with the Water Resources Planning Act [42 U.S.C. 1962 et seq.] to meet the long-range water needs of the northeastern United States. This plan may provide for the construction, operation, and maintenance by the United States of (1) a system of major reservoirs to be located within those river basins of the northeastern United States which drain into the Chesapeake Bay, those that drain into the Atlantic Ocean north of the Chesapeake Bay, those that drain into Lake Ontario, and those that drain into the Saint Lawrence River, (2) major conveyance facilities by which water may be exchanged between these river basins to the extent found desirable in the national interest, and (3) major purification facilities. Such plans shall provide for appropriate financial participation by the States, political subdivisions thereof, and other local interests.
(b)The Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, shall construct, operate, and maintain those reservoirs, conveyance facilities, and purification facilities, which are recommended in the plan prepared in accordance with subsection (a) of this section, and which are specifically authorized by law enacted after October 27, 1965.
(c)Each reservoir included in the plan authorized by this section shall be considered as a component of a comprehensive plan for the optimum development of the river basin in which it is situated, as well as a component of the plan established in accordance with this section.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The Water Resources Planning Act, referred to in subsec. (a), is Pub. L. 89–80, July 22, 1965, 79 Stat. 244, which is classified generally to this chapter (§ 1962 et seq.). For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 1962 of this title and Tables. Codification Section was not enacted as a part of the Water Resources Planning Act which comprises this chapter.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

42 U.S.C. § 1962d–4

Title 42The Public Health and Welfare

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73