2023 New York Laws › ENV - Environmental Conservation › Article 15 - Water Resources › Title 21 - River Regulation by Storage Reservoirs › 15-2109 - General Powers.

§ 15-2109. General powers.
1.  The  board  shall  have  power  to  make  all  necessary rules and
  regulations which shall be effective when approved by the department.
2. The board and its authorized agents may enter upon any lands as  in
  its  judgment  may  be  necessary  for the purpose of making surveys and
  examinations to accomplish any purpose authorized by title  21  of  this
  article, being liable only for actual damage done.
3.  The  board  on behalf of such district shall have and may exercise
  all of the powers enumerated in subdivision 1 of section 15-2103 and  in
  addition  thereto  all  such other powers as are necessary and proper to
  carry into execution the powers expressly granted to it, including power
  to make such channel improvements as may be necessary to prevent  damage
  to  downstream  properties  by the waters released from reservoirs.  The
  board shall have charge of  the  operation  of  all  reservoirs  now  in
  existence,  or  hereafter  constructed for the regulation of the flow of
  the river and its tributaries of the district which it  represents,  not
  including,  however,  any  reservoirs  which  are  or  may be maintained
  primarily to provide water  for  the  canal  system  of  the  state.  No
  reservoirs  for  the  regulation of the flow of streams or for any other
  purpose except for municipal water supply shall be hereafter constructed
  in Hamilton or Herkimer counties on the south branch of the Moose  River
  by any river regulating board.
4.  The  board  shall  have the right to establish and maintain stream
  gauges and rain gauges, and may make such surveys  and  examinations  of
  rainfall,  stream flow and flood conditions, and of other scientific and
  engineering subjects as may be necessary and proper for the purposes  of
  the district and shall preserve a record thereof.
5.  The  board, on behalf of such district, subject to the limitations
  of title 21 of this article, shall have  a  dominant  right  of  eminent
  domain  over  the right of eminent domain of public corporations, except
  cities. In exercise of this right, due care shall  be  taken  to  do  no
  unnecessary  damage to other public utilities, and in case of failure to
  agree upon the mode and terms of interference,  not  to  interfere  with
  their  operation  and  usefulness  beyond  the actual necessities of the
  case, due regard being paid to the other public interests involved.
6. The board on behalf of such district shall have power to consent to
  the transfer of jurisdiction over lands under its  jurisdiction  to  any
  state  department  or  a  bureau,  division or agency thereof, or to any
  state agency, upon such terms and conditions and under such  regulations
  and  restrictions  as  said board shall deem just and proper, providing,
  however, that the use of such lands will not interfere with the purposes
  for which they were acquired.
7. The board of the Hudson river-Black river regulating district shall
  have the power to contract to sell water, upon such terms and conditions
  as it deems advisable to any or all of the counties of Albany, Columbia,
  Essex,  Fulton,  Green,  Hamilton,  Rensselaer,  Saratoga,  Schenectady,
  Warren or Washington, which counties are contained within such district.