Section 1. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania hereby solemnly covenants and agrees with the states of Maryland, New York and the United States of America, upon the enactment of concurrent legislation by the Congress of the United States and by the respective state legislatures, as follows:
SUSQUEHANNA RIVER BASIN COMPACT
Preamble
Whereas the signatory parties hereto recognize the water resources of the Susquehanna River Basin as regional assets vested with local, state, and national interest for which they have a joint responsibility; and declare as follows:
1. The conservation, utilization, development, management, and control of the water resources of the Susquehanna River Basin under comprehensive multiple purpose planning will bring the greatest benefits and produce the most efficient service in the public interest; and
2. This comprehensive planning administered by a basin-wide agency will provide flood damage reduction, conservation and development of surface and ground water supply for municipal, industrial, and agricultural uses, development of recreational facilities in relation to reservoirs, lakes and streams, propagation of fish and game, promotion of forest land management, soil conservation, and watershed projects, protection and aid to fisheries, development of hydroelectric power potentialities, improved navigation, control of the movement of salt water, abatement and control of water pollution, and regulation of stream flows toward the attainment of these goals; and
3. The water resources of the basin are presently subject to the duplicating, overlapping, and uncoordinated administration of a large number of governmental agencies which exercise a multiplicity of powers resulting in a splintering of authority and responsibility; and
4. The Interstate Advisory Committee on the Susquehanna River Basin, created by action of the states of New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, on the basis of its studies and deliberation has concluded that regional development of the Susquehanna River Basin is feasible, advisable, and urgently needed, and has recommended that an intergovernmental compact with Federal participation be consummated to this end; and
5. The Congress of the United States and the executive branch of the Federal government have recognized a national interest in the Susquehanna River Basin by authorizing and directing the Corps of Engineers of the Department of the Army, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, the Department of Interior, and other Federal agencies to cooperate in making comprehensive surveys and reports concerning the water resources of the Susquehanna River Basin in which individually or severally the technical aid and assistance of many Federal and state agencies have been enlisted, and which are being or have been coordinated through a Susquehanna River Basin Study Coordinating Committee on which the Corps of Engineers of the Department of the Army, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, the Department of Interior, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and its predecessor Housing and Home Finance Agency, the Federal Power Commission, and the States of New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland are or were represented; and
6. Some three million people live and work in the Susquehanna River Basin and its environs, and the government, employment, industry, and economic development of the entire region and the health, safety, and general well being of its population are and will continue to be affected vitally by the conservation, utilization, development, management, and control of the water resources of the basin; and
7. Demands upon the water resources of the basin are expected to mount because of anticipated increases in population and by reason of industrial and economic growth of the basin and its service area; and
8. Water resources planning and development are technical, complex, and expensive, often requiring fifteen to twenty years from the conception to the completion of large or extensive projects; and
9. The public interest requires that facilities must be ready and operative when and where needed, to avoid the damages of unexpected floods or prolonged drought, and for other purposes; and
10. The Interstate Advisory Committee on the Susquehanna River Basin has prepared a draft of an intergovernmental compact for the creation of a basin agency, and the signatory parties desire to effectuate the purposes thereof;
Now therefore
The States of New York and Maryland and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the United States of America hereby solemnly covenant and agree with each other, upon the enactment of concurrent legislation by the Congress of the United States and by the respective state legislatures, to the Susquehanna River Basin Compact which consists of this Preamble and the Articles that follow.