1396                            JOINT RESOLUTIONS

No. 50
(House Joint Resolution 29)

House Joint Resolution urging the State of New York and the Com-
monwealth of Pennsylvania to refrain from decisions to divert
water from the Susquehanna River Basin pending the creation of
a Tri-State Compact to manage the water resources of the Susque-
hanna River Basin.

The General Assembly of Maryland requests the State of New
York and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to make no further
diversions of water from the Susquehanna River Basin until after
the pending Compact among the State of New York, the Common-
wealth of Pennsylvania, and the State of Maryland is completed
and adopted.

For a number of years important and vital studies have moved
forward concerning the Susquehanna River Basin. Thus, the Inter-
state Advisory Commission on the Susquehanna River Basin, with
legislative and executive appointees from all three States, has given
detailed and careful scrutiny to possibilities for an interstate Com-
pact in which the three States would join in the administration of
the water resources of the entire Susquehanna River Basin. This
group is now nearing the completion of its work and within months
should be able to submit a proposed Compact to the legislative
bodies of the three States.

In addition, and also for a number of years, the Susquehanna River
Basin Coordinating Committee has been attempting concerted action
of State and Federal agencies in relation to the Susquehanna River
Basin. This group was formed originally by the Corps of Engineers,
and it contains appointees of the several governments, with the
group making studies of the work done in the Susquehanna River
Basin by the Corps of Engineers.

The Susquehanna River is one of the great water resources in the
eastern part of the United States. It is vitally important to a large
area in southeastern New York State and to the entire central por-
tion of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It has a very vital part
in the continued well-being of the State of Maryland.

The great Chesapeake Bay is dependent upon the Susquehanna
River for up to eighty percent of its fresh water supply. Any diminu-
tion in the flow of fresh water into the Bay would be potentially
and actually dangerous to the continued usefulness and productivity
of the Chesapeake Bay.

Actually that great body of water is a national and not only a State
asset. It is a wonderfully productive area for seafood and is used
annually by many, many thousands of persons for healthful and
wholesome recreation.

The Compact shortly to be submitted to the three States should
result in an improvement in both the quality and quantity of the
water flowing in the Susquehanna River Valley. Pending the com-
pletion of this Compact and its consideration by the legislative and
executive officials of the three States, the State of Maryland proposes
that no additional diversions of water be made throughout the Sus-