2023 New York Laws › ENV - Environmental Conservation › Article 15 - Water Resources › Title 21 - River Regulation by Storage Reservoirs › 15-2101 - Definitions and Construction.

§ 15-2101. Definitions and construction.
The  following  words and phrases when used in title 21 are defined as
  follows:
1. "Real estate," when used without words of limitation, includes  all
  uplands,  lands under water, the waters of any lake, pond or stream, all
  water and riparian rights or privileges, all water powers, water plants,
  and all dams, races, sluiceways and machinery connected  therewith,  and
  any  and  all easements and incorporeal hereditaments, and every estate,
  interest and right, legal or equitable,  in  land  or  water,  including
  terms for years, and liens, legal or equitable, on real estate, as above
  defined,  in way of judgment, mortgage or otherwise, and all real estate
  as above defined acquired or used for railroad, highway, or other public
  purposes.
2. "Regulating reservoir" means a basin for impounding  water,  formed
  or  enlarged  by  a  dam,  constructed  or maintained for the purpose of
  regulating the flow of a stream or  river  and  shall  be  construed  to
  include  the  dams  and  dikes or other structures by means of which the
  water is or is to be impounded, the gate houses,  including  controlling
  gates, sluices, screens, racks and other accessories thereto; spillways,
  fishways,  log  or  ice chutes, or barriers and all accessories thereto;
  all bridges or roadways over or appurtenant to the dams and  dikes;  all
  other  structures,  devices, or appliances connected with or appurtenant
  to any of the structures hereinbefore enumerated, in  such  manner  that
  they  cannot  be  removed  without  injury to such structures or without
  impairing the usefulness thereof for the purposes  for  which  they  are
  intended;  the  lands  under the water impounded, or to be impounded, by
  the dam or dams, and such lands surrounding or adjacent to the  dam,  or
  the  water  impounded  or  to  be impounded thereby, and such other real
  estate and appliances, including roadways and telephone lines, as  shall
  be  necessary  for  the  purposes  of  the construction, maintenance, or
  operation of a regulating reservoir, as above  defined,  also  including
  such land surrounding such reservoir as may be necessary to preserve and
  protect   such  reservoir  from  unsanitary  conditions,  and  from  any
  encroachment affecting its use for the purpose of regulating the flow of
  the stream or river for the regulation of which it may  be  constructed.
  Such  term  is  not  intended  to  include  a reservoir created by a dam
  constructed or maintained for power purposes, but is intended to include
  a reservoir at or by reason of which there may be, as an incident to the
  construction, maintenance and operation of  such  regulating  reservoir,
  the  possibility  of  the  utilization  of a portion of the water stored
  thereby for power purposes, without in  any  way  interfering  with  the
  primary purpose of a reservoir constructed under the provisions of title
  21 of this article.
3.  "Benefit  or benefits" shall be interpreted to include benefits to
  real  estate,  public  or  private,  to  municipal  water   supply,   to
  navigation,  to  agriculture  and  to  industrial and general welfare by
  reason of the maintenance  and  operation  of  a  regulating  reservoir,
  whether  such  benefit  shall inure to a person, a public corporation or
  the state. In the  event  that  any  regulating  reservoir  operates  to
  relieve  the state of any obligation by reason of diversion of the water
  of any river for canal purposes, the  state,  to  the  extent  that  the
  maintenance  and operation of such reservoir may accomplish such relief,
  shall be deemed to have received benefit therefrom.
4. "Board" shall mean the river regulating board of a district.
5. "Preliminary expenses" shall be construed to mean expenditures made
  or incurred by the state on account of the services or expenses  of  its
  officers or employees in making studies, investigations, surveys, plans,
  specifications  and  estimates;  in  negotiating,  drafting, and letting

  contracts; in supervising and directing the construction  of  works  and
  structures,  as  authorized or required by title 21 of this article; and
  the expenses of procuring searches, or abstracts of title of real estate
  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  out  the provisions of title 21 of this
  article.
6. "Regulation" means only such regulation as can be had  through  the
  construction,   maintenance  and  operation  of  regulating  reservoirs,
  excepting as otherwise expressly provided in title 21 of this article.
7. "Average flow" means that result in terms of cubic  feet  of  water
  per  second derived by the division of the total number of cubic feet of
  water flowed by any stream or river, at the location thereon  where  the
  measurement  is  taken,  in one year, or for an average of years, by the
  number of seconds in a year.
8. "Average normal flow" means that result in terms of cubic  feet  of
  water  per  second  derived by the division of the total number of cubic
  feet of water flowed by any stream or river,  at  the  location  thereon
  where  the  measurement thereof is taken, on those days in a year during
  which such flow did not exceed  the  average  flow,  by  the  number  of
  seconds in the total number of such days.
9. "Cost of construction" shall be construed to include in addition to
  the  cost  of  a  regulating  reservoir,  all  preliminary expenses, all
  expenses of organization of the district,  engineering  fees,  costs  of
  surveys,  plans, advertising, salaries, compensation and expenses of the
  board, together with all legal and other  expenses,  incidental  to  the
  construction of such reservoirs up to time of the completion thereof.
10.  "Cost of maintenance and operation" shall be construed to include
  all such expenses for repairs and upkeep of  the  regulating  reservoir,
  all  such  expenses  necessary to the proper operation of such reservoir
  for the purposes for which it was constructed and all such part  of  the
  compensation and expenses of the board, its officers and employees after
  the  completion  of  such regulating reservoir as are in the judgment of
  the board and the department properly chargeable thereto.
11. "High flow line" means the  line  which  will  be  made  around  a
  reservoir  by  the water therein when it is at the level of the crest of
  the reservoir spillway.
12. "Low flow line" means the line made by the water  of  a  reservoir
  when  it is at the lowest level which, consistent with the regulation of
  the flow of the river and the maintenance of  sanitary  conditions,  the
  board with the approval of the department shall fix and determine.
13.  "Unsanitary  condition  or  conditions"  means  such condition or
  conditions as are a menace to the public health.
14. The  general  provisions  and  definitions  appearing  in  section
  15-1903  shall,  where  appropriate,  be applicable to the functions and
  duties of the department or board, as the case may be, under title 21.