Environmental History: Researching the Environment:
Guide to the New York (State) Dept. of Environmental Conservation. Minutes of Predecessor Agencies
The print version of the finding aid was compiled by Meredith Cherven Holland, New York State Archives.
© 2005
Overview
Arrangement
Historical Note
Content Description
Administrative Information
Use of the Series
Related Information
Access Terms
Overview of the Collection
| Repository: | New York State Archives |
| Sponsor: | Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. |
| Series Number: | 16827 |
| Creator: | New York (State) Dept. of Environmental Conservation. Division Water |
| Title: | Minutes of Predecessor Agencies |
| Dates: | 1902-1970 |
| Physical Description: | 7.1 cu.ft. (32 volumes) textual records |
| Summary: | This series consists of original meeting minutes of the Division of Water's predecessor agencies: Water Storage Commission, Water Supply Commission, Conservation Commissiregarding 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 environmeMeeting minutes deal with such issues as public water supplies and water supply applications, sewage disposal, waterresources planning, and flood control. |
Arrangement
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. Most volumes contain subject indexes with corresponding meeting dates.
Overview
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 throug 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. The Water Storag Commission meeting minutes, 1902-1903 (1 vol.) address such subjects as the causes of floods, including the dange of high water produced by ices gorges, and possible remedial actions to prevent such occurrences. The Water Supp Commission meeting minutes, 1905-1911 (4 vols.) address statewide investigations of municipal water supply system and methods of sewage disposal; municipal water purity and availability; and the regulation of the flow of rivers in ord to prevent floods. The records of the Canaseraga Creek Improvement District Conservation Commission, 1915-1921 vol.) document efforts to redress the situation posed by damage to the public health, through an approved state improvement project. The New York Water Power Commission minutes, 1921-1926 (1 vol.) address investigations, plans, and specifications for waterpower development, including applications for permits to use waters for the development of hydraulic and hydroelectric power. The minutes from the Water Power and Control Commission (192 1960, 16 vols.), later known as the Water Resources Commission (1960-1970, 9 vols.), focus on such issues as rive improvement, river regulation for storage reservoirs, river regulation by storage reservoirs, drainage improvement districts, and water supply applications.
Historical Sketch
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 th 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. Th 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.
Administrative Information
Processing Information
This collection's description was enhanced as a part of the New York State Archives Environmental HistoryVirtual Research Collection Project, 2004. The National Endowment for the Humanities provided funding for this project.
Use of Series
Related Information
Related Material
A0890-78, Comptroller’s Office, Canaseraga Creek improvement records, 1906-1915; 20653-01, Bureau of Water Permits, Application files pertaining to Public Water Supply Systems, 1905-1980; 16828-01, Division of Water, Water Supply Commission survey questionnaires, 1905-1906.
Other Finding Aids
A container list is available.
Access Terms
Corporate NamesNew York (State) Water Storage CommissionNew York (State) Conservation CommissionNew York (State) Water Power and Control CommissionNew York (State) Water Supply CommissionNew York (State) Water Power Commission
Subjects
Flood control --New York (State)
Sewage disposal --New York (State)
Electric power production -- New York (State)
Water resources development -- New York (State)
Managing water resources development
Flood damage prevention
Geographic Names
New York (State)
Livingston County (N.Y.)
Genre/Form
Minutes
Applications
Function
Managing water resources development
Managing flood control
