§1962d–11a Potomac River Water Diversion Structure

Summary

Congress gives consent under section 401 of title 33 for the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission to build a water diversion structure from the north shore at its Potomac River water filtration plant to the north shore of Watkins Island. The top of the structure must not be higher than 159 feet above sea level. The structure cannot be built until the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, Maryland, Virginia, the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, and any other public authorities they want sign a written agreement that sets an enforceable schedule for sharing withdrawals from the Potomac River between Little Falls Dam and the farthest upstream limit of the pool behind the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal rubble dam at Seneca, Maryland, during low-flow periods. The Secretary may enter into and change that agreement. Except as the agreement says, this does not change any water rights or powers that Maryland, Virginia, their local governments, the District of Columbia, or the Corps of Engineers had on October 22, 1976, about taking or using Potomac River water.