New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Minutes of Division of Water Predecessor Agencies

Organized into six subseries: Water Storage Commission, Water Supply Commission, Conservation Commission regarding the Canaseraga Creek Improvement District, New York Water Power Commission, Water Power and Control Commission, and Water Resources Commission. Arranged by agency, then chronological by date of meeting.

The Water Storage Commission was established in 1902 to investigate and report on the State's water supply. In 1905, the State Water Supply Commission was created to administer a systematic plan for maintaining water supplies for the State's municipalities. The commission reviewed applications and approved all maps and profiles related to sources of water supply. In 1906, the Water Supply Commission absorbed the River Improvement Commission that was responsible for regulating the flow of water courses in the aid of public health and safety. The commission reviewed applications from municipalities and then authorized preliminary surveys and investigations into the causes and solutions to the water flow problems. Any improvements could only be undertaken under specific legislative authorization. In 1906, the legislature approved a statewide improvement plan for the regulation of the flow of Canaseraga Creek. An important tributary of the Genesee River, heavy silt deposits and the irregular course of the creek caused severe annual flooding in Livingston County. The slow subsidence of floodwaters on the flat land impaired cultivation and caused damage. When the functions and powers of the Water Supply Commission were incorporated within the Conservation Commission in 1911, the Conservation Commission took up the important issue of the Canaseraga Creek Improvement District.

In 1921, the Water Power Commission was established to issue licenses for the development of power resources. In 1926, the Conservation Department assumed the functions of the Water Power Commission and the Water Control Commission, which had been established in 1922 to supervise water flow and supply. The Division of Water Power and Control, headed by the Water Power and Control Commission, was created within the Conservation Department to carry out this mandate. In 1960, the titles of the Division of Water Power and Control and the Water Power and Control Commission were changed to the Division of Water Resources and the Water Resources Commission, respectively.

This series consists of original meeting minutes of the Division of Water's predecessor agencies: Water Storage Commission, Water Supply Commission, Conservation Commission regarding the Canaseraga Creek Improvement District, Water Power Commission, Water Power and Control Commission, and Water Resources Commission. Taken as a whole, the minutes document New York State's decisions, actions, and policies through much of the twentieth century on matters concerning water and the environment. Meeting minutes deal with such issues as public water supplies and water supply applications, sewage disposal, water resources planning, and flood control. The series has been organized into six subseries reflecting each of the predecessor agencies.

A0890Series A0890, Comptroller's Office, Canaseraga Creek improvement records, 1906-1915

20653Series 20653, Bureau of Water Permits, Application files pertaining to Public Water Supply Systems, 1905-1980 and

16828Series 16828, Division of Water, Water Supply Commission survey questionnaires, 1905-1906 contain related records.

A container list is available. Most volumes contain subject indexes with corresponding meeting dates.

This collection's description was enhanced as a part of the New York State Archives Environmental History Virtual Research Collection Project, 2004. The National Endowment for the Humanities provided funding for this project.

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of the material.