I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2973 
To authorize the Secretary of Interior to carry out projects and conduct 
research on water resources in the Hudson-Mohawk River Basin, to 
establish a Hudson-Mohawk River Basin Commission, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 1, 2013 
Mr. TONKO introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Transpor-
tation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by 
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with-
in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To authorize the Secretary of Interior to carry out projects 
and conduct research on water resources in the Hudson- 
Mohawk River Basin, to establish a Hudson-Mohawk 
River Basin Commission, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hudson-Mohawk River 
Basin Act of 2013’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The Hudson-Mohawk River Basin together 
with the Erie Canal connects the Great Lakes to the 
Atlantic Ocean and includes the 13,400 square mile 
area encompassing five large sub-basins: the Upper 
Hudson River sub-basin, the Mohawk River sub- 
basin, the Lower Hudson River sub-basin, the Pas-
saic River sub-basin, and the Raritan River sub- 
basin. 
(2) The Hudson-Mohawk River Basin played an 
essential role in the birth of our Nation and its west-
ward expansion. The water of the Hudson-Mohawk 
Basin is the ink used to write the early United 
States history of European settlement and the 
American Revolution. The Basin’s rivers served as a 
major transportation corridor connecting the com-
munities along it from the Atlantic Ocean to the 
Great Lakes. 
(3) The Hudson-Mohawk River Basin includes 
the largest metropolitan area of the country: the 
New York-New Jersey metropolitan area. This met-
ropolitan area, together with the many communities 
in the Upper Hudson, Mohawk, and Lower Hudson 
sub-basins, makes the area one of the most densely 
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and heavily populated river basins in the country 
with over 15,000,000 people. 
(4) The water resources of the Hudson-Mohawk 
River Basin are functionally interrelated and their 
uses are interdependent. A single entity is essential 
to provide effective communication, coordination, 
and cooperation among Federal, State, and local 
governments, non-governmental organizations, and 
the private sector for this area. 
(5) The New York-New Jersey Harbor Estuary 
is a complex natural harbor at the junction of three 
major water bodies, the New York Bight, the Hud-
son River and the Long Island Sound. In addition, 
it receives freshwater inputs from the Raritan and 
Passaic Rivers. The health and productivity of the 
New York Bight is affected directly by the quality 
of the freshwater inputs to the estuary from the 
Hudson, Passaic, and Raritan Rivers. 
(6) The headwaters of the Hudson originate 
within the Adirondack Mountains, a treasured 
northeastern wilderness area, protected under the 
New York State constitution since 1894. The Hud-
son’s path south through the Hudson River High-
lands, and the Mohawk’s path south east to its junc-
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tion with the Hudson, provides the only natural 
break in the Appalachian Mountain chain. 
(7) The Mohawk Valley’s abundant natural re-
sources, and fertile floodplain soils provided a rich 
endowment that first supported the Mohawk nation 
and the Iroquois Confederacy and later supported 
European settlement and the development of indus-
try and commerce. 
(8) The Mohawk River and its watershed drain 
directly into the Hudson River providing the largest 
freshwater input to the brackish water mix that 
characterizes the Hudson River Estuary and sup-
ports a biologically rich and productive ecosystem. 
(9) The Mohawk River is integrated with the 
Erie Canal along much of its channel. Therefore, 
tying the operation of the Canal system to the 
health of the Mohawk and the Hudson Rivers. 
(10) Individuals in many communities through-
out the Basin have experienced devastating flooding 
that led to tremendous costs for businesses, State, 
and local governments. A holistic approach to river 
and stream monitoring, updated floodplain maps, 
and development of floodplain management strate-
gies based upon improved understanding of the Ba-
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sin’s hydrology would make communities safer and 
more resistant and resilient to flood events. 
(11) Climate change is occurring and, as a re-
sult, sea level rise along the United States eastern 
coastline will increase the vulnerability of coastal 
communities to storm surge and flooding in the New 
York-New Jersey harbors and along the major rivers 
in the Basin. 
(12) Each of the subwatersheds of the Hudson- 
Mohawk River Basin receives support of programs 
administered by Federal, State, regional, and local 
organizations. 
(13) There has been little integration of plan-
ning and program implementation to address the 
Hudson-Mohawk River Basin in a holistic manner. 
(14) New York, New Jersey, Vermont, Massa-
chusetts, and Connecticut have a long history of 
achievements working together on resource manage-
ment issues through their memberships in the Dela-
ware River Basin Commission, the Susquehanna 
River Basin Commission, the Appalachian Regional 
Commission, the New England Interstate Water Pol-
lution Control Commission, and the Lake Champlain 
Basin Program. 
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(15) The basin-wide impacts experienced as a 
result of recent hurricanes and storms illustrate the 
need for integrated, basin-wide planning to address 
water management challenges and vulnerability to 
flooding. 
(16) Protection and restoration of wetlands, ex-
panded use of green infrastructure, strengthening of 
dams and levees, and upgrading of wastewater and 
water treatment infrastructure will be necessary to 
reduce the impacts of extreme weather events and 
maintain water quality and public health. 
(17) 
Development 
and 
implementation 
of 
projects to control flooding and improve water qual-
ity must be done with the full participation of local 
communities and citizens, address the needs they 
identify, and be conducted in a manner that respects 
private property and is consistent with the authori-
ties of state and local jurisdictions. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
(a) HUDSON-MOHAWK RIVER BASIN.—The term 
‘‘Hudson-Mohawk River Basin’’ means the area of drain-
age of the Hudson, Mohawk, Passaic and Raritan Rivers 
and their tributaries into the New York-New Jersey Har-
bor Estuary. This includes areas in New York, New Jer-
sey, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. 
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