Title 33, Navigation and Navigable WatersRelease 119-102
§701a Declaration of Policy of 1936 Act
Title 33 › CHAPTER 15 — FLOOD CONTROL › § 701a
Summary
Says destructive floods on U.S. rivers are a danger to the nation and that the federal government should work with States and local governments to study and improve rivers and watersheds to prevent flooding. The federal government should build or help improve navigable waters and their tributaries for flood control when the expected benefits are greater than the estimated costs and when people’s lives or social security would otherwise be harmed.
Full Legal Text
Title 33, §701a
Navigation and Navigable Waters, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
It is recognized that destructive floods upon the rivers of the United States, upsetting orderly processes and causing loss of life and property, including the erosion of lands, and impairing and obstructing navigation, highways, railroads, and other channels of commerce between the States, constitute a menace to national welfare; that it is the sense of Congress that flood control on navigable waters or their tributaries is a proper activity of the Federal Government in cooperation with States, their political subdivisions, and localities thereof; that investigations and improvements of rivers and other waterways, including watersheds thereof, for flood-control purposes are in the interest of the general welfare; that the Federal Government should improve or participate in the improvement of navigable waters or their tributaries, including watersheds thereof, for flood-control purposes if the benefits to whomsoever they may accrue are in excess of the estimated costs, and if the lives and social security of people are otherwise adversely affected.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
33 U.S.C. § 701a
Title 33, Navigation and Navigable Waters
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102