Water Supply Storage and Reallocation Policies Related to Corps Projects
As the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers prepares to undertake a rulemaking, the following principles serve to guide the implementation of reservoir reallocations and other water supply storage policies. Section 6 of the Flood Control Act of 1944 (33 U.S.C. § 708) and the Water Supply Act of 1958, as amended, (43 U.S.C. § 390b), set forth the primary Federal interest governing the role of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) as it relates to water supply. Based on the premise that states and non-Federal entities bear the primary responsibility for the development and management of their water supplies, the governing laws provide the framework for the role of the Corps in developing water supplies, and related construction, operation, maintenance, and modification of Federal reservoir projects. Existing laws and regulations define and explain how the Corps may allow the use of its reservoirs for municipal and industrial water supply, for withdrawals of surplus water, for agricultural water supply, for emergency water during severe droughts, and to assist states and local interests in their water supply planning processes. In each instance, the terms and conditions of the relationship between the Corps and the non-Federal stakeholder are typically established in a water storage contract….
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