Section 15-2103. Creation of river regulating districts

1.  Bodies  corporate,  which  shall  consist of and be known as river
  regulating districts, may be  created  pursuant  to  title  21  of  this
  article  to  construct,  maintain  and  operate  reservoirs  within such
  districts, subject to the provisions of this article for the purpose  of
  regulating  the  flow  of  streams, when required by the public welfare,
  including public health and safety. Such river regulating districts  are
  declared  to  be  public corporations and shall have perpetual existence
  and the power to acquire, and hold such real estate and  other  property
  as  may be necessary, to sue and be sued, to incur contract liabilities,
  to exercise the right of eminent domain and of assessment  and  taxation
  and  to do all acts and exercise all powers authorized by and subject to
  the provisions of this article. Such powers shall be exercised by and in
  the name of the board of the district.
    1-a. Notwithstanding any other  provision  of  law,  for  purposes  of
  applying for and/or receiving any federal moneys or deriving any type of
  benefit  or  advantage pursuant to federal law, rule or regulation river
  regulating districts are hereby  deemed  to  be  municipal  corporations
  within  the  meaning  of  subdivision  two  of  section sixty-six of the
  general construction law.
    2. Petitions may be filed as follows:
    a. Any person or public corporation may present to  the  department  a
  petition for the organization of a river regulating district pursuant to
  the provisions of title 21 of this article. Any such petitioner shall be
  a resident or owner of real estate within the proposed district, or if a
  public  corporation,  one  whose  boundaries lie wholly or partly within
  such district.
    b. The petition shall set forth:
    (1) The proposed name of the district, as  the  ...............  River
  Regulating District.
    (2)  The necessity for the organization of such district, the purposes
  to be accomplished thereby and the benefits to inure from  the  exercise
  of its powers.
    (3)  A  general  description of the territory included in the proposed
  district. Such description need not be given by metes and bounds, or  by
  political  subdivisions,  but  it  shall be sufficient to state that the
  territory to be  included  in  the  proposed  district  constitutes  the
  watershed  of the particular river in reference to which the petition is
  filed stating generally the extent of such watershed. In the event  that
  the district sought to be organized does not include the whole watershed
  of  the  particular  river, but only the watershed of a tributary of the
  river, then, the petition should generally set forth the extent of  such
  watershed,  the  reason  why  the  watershed  of the tributary should be
  organized as a separate river regulating district, and the  relation  of
  the regulation of the flow of such tributary to and effect upon the flow
  of the river to which it is tributary.
    (4) The extent of the regulation possible through the construction and
  operation of reservoirs.
    (5)  Whether state or private lands, or both, will be required, and in
  general the extent thereof, and all such facts as would show or tend  to
  show the public necessity for the regulation of the flow of the river.
    3. Hearings shall be held as follows:
    a. Immediately upon the receipt of such petition, the department shall
  cause  notice  by  publication  pursuant  to  subdivision one of section
  15-1903 to be given of the pendency of the petition, and of the time and
  place of a hearing thereon, and may appoint times and places for further
  hearings if deemed by it to be desirable.

    b. Hearings shall be conducted in accordance with  the  procedure  set
  forth  in  section  15-1903  of this article. If after such a hearing or
  hearings, it should appear that the purposes of title 21 of this article
  would be best served by the creation of the  river  regulating  district
  sought  in  the  petition,  the department shall thereupon so decide and
  declare. It shall then prepare and file a map of such  district  with  a
  certificate  of its determination creating such district and showing the
  name, extent and purpose of the district, with the  Secretary  of  State
  and  the  county  clerk  of  each  county  wholly  or  partly within the
  district, and notice of such decision shall be given in the  manner  set
  forth in section 15-0903.
    4. Review is available according to the following provisions:
    a.  The  decision of the department may be reviewed in accordance with
  the provisions of section 15-0905. Upon failure so to review within  the
  time  prescribed  or  if  the  action  of the department is sustained or
  modified on such review, the district shall  thereupon  become  a  river
  regulating  district  of  the State of New York and a public corporation
  with all the rights and powers granted by title 21 of this  article.  No
  such  review  shall  be  had  excepting  at the instance of the Attorney
  General of the state unless prior to the application for the review  the
  party making application shall file a bond or undertaking in a sum to be
  fixed by the Supreme Court or a justice thereof with good and sufficient
  sureties  to  be  approved by the court or a justice thereof agreeing to
  pay all costs and expenses caused by such review as  determined  by  the
  court  in  the proceeding in the event of failure to set aside or modify
  the determination and order of the department creating such district.
    b. After such a river regulating district shall have been created as a
  public corporation hereunder, the certificate creating the same shall be
  final and binding upon all  the  public  corporations  and  real  estate
  within  the  district,  and shall finally and conclusively establish the
  regular creation and organization of such district.
    c.  The  organization  of  the  district  shall  not  be  directly  or
  collaterally  questioned  in  any  suit,  action or proceeding except as
  herein expressly provided.
    5. Copies of the certificate certified  by  the  department  shall  be
  recorded  in  the office of the Secretary of the State and in the office
  of the county clerk of each county partly or wholly within the  district
  and  in  the  event  of  a  review  any  order  or judgment of the court
  thereupon  shall  be  likewise  recorded.  The  county  clerks  and  the
  Secretary  of  the  State  shall  receive  for filing and recording such
  copies and all papers to  be  filed  and  recorded  by  them  under  the
  provisions  of  title  21  of this article. They shall also receive such
  fees as are, or hereafter may be, provided by law for like  services  in
  similar  cases  and  all  above  mentioned  fees  shall be a part of the
  preliminary expenses.