Key People
History of the Susquehanna River Basin Compact
On Christmas Eve 1970, President Richard Nixon signed into law the Susquehanna River
Basin Compact (Public Law 91-575) joining the federal government and the states
of New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland as equal partners for a period of 100 years.
The compact took effect thirty days later, including the formation of SRBC to wisely
manage the water resources of the Susquehanna basin. The compact text is available
on SRBC’s web site at www.srbc.net/about/index.htm
In his 1972 book, The Susquehanna Compact: The Guardian of the River’s Future, William
Voigt, Jr., recorded in great detail the events leading up to and the people involved
in the formation of the compact. Voigt was the Executive Director of the Interstate
Advisory Committee on the Susquehanna River Basin. This committee and its task force
produced the compact language and worked tirelessly toward the passage of the compact.
A few of the many dedicated people associated with the compact are noted below.
A longer list of the people and key milestones are available on SRBCs 40th Anniversary Page.
Frederick Zimmermann — As a former N.Y. State Assemblyman and Chair of the
Political Science Department at Hunter College, he was the first to suggest in 1960
that a federal-interstate compact for the Susquehanna basin be established. He helped
form the Interstate Advisory Committee on the Susquehanna River Basin and helped
draft the compact. Learn more about Frederick Zimmermann.
Dr. Maurice Goddard —The formation of the compact experienced its most difficult
challenges in Pennsylvania. Had it not been for the strident and unwavering efforts
of Dr. Maurice Goddard and others, the compact could have failed passage in the
state. Dr. Goddard was the longtime Secretary of the Department of Forests and Waters
and later Department of Environmental Resources, the permanent Chair of the Interstate
Advisory Committee on the Susquehanna River Basin and later alternate commissioner
to SRBC. Learn more about Dr. Goddard.
Other key people include: State Senator Elisha Barrett and Francis Montanari
from New York; State Reps. Harris Breth and Orville Snare, State Senator
Z. H. Confair, Alan Sommerville, and Robert Trace from Pennsylvania;
State Senator William James, Dr. Carl Everstine, Paul McKee,
Dr. Albert Miller, Congressman Rogers C. B. Morton and Herb Sachs
from Maryland.
January 23, 2011
Executive Director's Message
2011 marks a milestone in the history of the Susquehanna River Basin Commission
(SRBC) – its 40th anniversary. What have been SRBC’s major accomplishments over
the past four decades?
First, SRBC has matured to become a leader in many of the mission areas established
in the Susquehanna River Basin Compact (Compact). While everyone espouses the virtues
of managing water resources on a watershed basis, there are few institutional arrangements
in place nationwide that afford the opportunity SRBC does for sovereign jurisdictions
sharing a major watershed to put that theory into practice. After forty years, SRBC
is an experienced practitioner of watershed planning and management; with all due
modesty, it serves as a model for others to emulate.
Development of SRBC’s Comprehensive Plan for the Water Resources of the Susquehanna
River Basin stands out as one of our accomplishments. The Plan provides an overarching
framework for SRBC to manage and develop the basin’s water resources and serves
as a guide for all its programs and activities, which are organized within “Primary
Management Areas” in revisions to the Plan adopted in 2008. The Plan is also intended
to be a useful resource for SRBC’s member jurisdictions, water resource managers,
private sector interests and others in the basin.
Not only are coordination and cooperation identified as powers and duties of SRBC
in its Compact; Section 3.7 of the Compact requires the commission to “…promote
and aid the coordination of the activities and programs of Federal, state, municipal
and private agencies concerned with water resources administration in the basin.”
Coordination and cooperation for SRBC are much more than words on a page; they serve
as the underpinning of nearly everything we do and are the basis for many of our
specific accomplishments over the years.
The Susquehanna Flood Forecast and Warning System is a notable example of these
important functions. In 1972, barely a year after it was formed, SRBC was “imprinted”
by the devastating flooding caused by Tropical Storm Agnes, which is still the flood
of record for the basin as a whole. In the mid-1980s, SRBC established an interagency
committee that resulted in the establishment of a state-of-the-art flood forecast
and warning system for the basin – one that has delivered an impressive 20:1 benefit
for every federal dollar invested in it.
Over a period of 25 years, this interagency committee on the flood warning system
has continued to serve as a coordinating forum for the effective planning of flood
mitigation activities among federal and state agencies. It exemplifies good government
by avoiding duplication of effort. Utilization of advanced technology remains a
hallmark of the flood warning system, most recently evidenced in the development
of flood inundation maps for communities in the Upper Susquehanna Subbasin that
experienced record flooding in June 2006.
Some of SRBC’s significant accomplishments have resulted from challenges and adversities
it has faced over the years. For example, the federal government’s elimination of
funding for SRBC and its sister mid-Atlantic river basin commissions more than a
decade ago forced SRBC to broaden its financial base by undertaking grant-funded
projects for its member jurisdictions, in particular Pennsylvania, and by imposing
fees on sponsors of projects it regulates. As a result, SRBC is healthier financially
today than when it relied strictly on annual contributions from its four members.
Likewise, while it has generally been successful in resolving disputes amicably,
SRBC’s response to several legal challenges served to establish its authority and
to strengthen its Regulatory Program. Notable examples include: (1) the successful
defense to a 1998 suit brought by the City of Baltimore regarding SRBC’s determination
that certain projects undertaken by the city are subject to its authority and require
its review and approval; and (2) the successful result of litigation brought by
an aggrieved project sponsor to regulations SRBC promulgated in December 2006.
Our accomplishments over the past 40 years can in large measure be gauged by the
answer to these questions, which reflect the goals we have established pursuant
to our mission statement, and are best answered by others:
- How responsive has SRBC been to the water resource management needs of its member
jurisdictions?
- Has SRBC provided excellent service to the public?
- How effectively has it coordinated management of interstate water resources and
served as an effective forum for resolution of water resource issues and controversies
within the basin?
- Has SRBC demonstrated leadership in issues concerning the conservation, utilization,
allocation, development and management of the water resources within the Susquehanna
River Basin?
- How well has SRBC provided public information and education about the water resources
of the basin?
What are SRBC’s most important accomplishments over the past four decades? Fundamentally,
I believe they include: (1) having provided a steady and singular focus on the water
resources of the Susquehanna River Basin; (2) having established an effective administrative
forum for sciencebased decision making and communication among its member jurisdictions;
and (3) having put in place effective mechanisms for sustainable water resource
planning and management in the years to come.