32:11D-3. Purpose and findings

The legislative bodies of the respective signatory parties hereby find and declare:

(a) The water resources of the basin are affected with a local, State, regional and national interest and their planning, conservation, utilization, development, management and control, under appropriate arrangements for intergovernmental co-operation, are public purposes of the respective signatory parties.

(b) The water resources of the basin are subject to the sovereign right and responsibility of the signatory parties, and it is the purpose of this compact to provide for a joint exercise of such powers of sovereignty in the common interests of the people of the region.

(c) The water resources of the basin are functionally interrelated, and the uses of these resources are interdependent. A single administrative agency is therefore essential for effective and economical direction, supervision and co-ordination of efforts and programs of Federal, State and local governments and of private enterprise.

(d) The water resources of the Delaware River Basin, if properly planned and utilized, are ample to meet all presently projected demands, including existing and added diversions in future years; and ever-increasing economies and efficiencies in the use and reuse of water resources can be brought about by comprehensive planning, programming and management.

(e) In general, the purposes of this compact are to promote interstate comity; to remove causes of present and future controversy; to make secure and protect present developments within the States; to encourage and provide for the planning, conservation, utilization, development, management and control of the water resources of the basin; to provide for co-operative planning and action by the signatory parties with respect to such water resources; and to apply the principle of equal and uniform treatment to all water users who are similarly situated and to all users of related facilities, without regard to established political boundaries.

L.1961, c. 13, p. 46, s. 1.3.