V-192 



SECTION 2. PROPOSED USES OF THE COMPACT INSTRUMENT 

 IN THE CHESAPEAKE BASIN 



THE SUSOUEHANNA AND POTOMAC COMPACTS 



Both of these nev/ comnacts are concerned with the management of 

 resources indirectly affecting the estuarine resources of Chesapeake 

 Bay. The first, the proposed Susquehanna River Basin Compact, has 

 been approved by Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania, and legisla- 

 tion granting Congressional consent is awaiting action in the 91st 

 Congress. The second, the proposed Potomac River Basin Compact, 

 was drafted by a special committee established by the Governors of 

 Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. It presently 

 awaits action by the State legislatures and by the District of 

 Columbia, which the compact includes as a member. 



In brief, each compact would establish a joint agency of the 

 signatory States and the Federal Government patterned after the 

 Delaware River Basin Commission. Each would be empowered to perform 

 essentially three broad functions. 



The first would be to serve as a special organizational mechanism 

 through which the basin States and the Federal Government v/ould 

 consult on mutual problems and interests regarding the water and 

 related land resources of the basin. 



The second function would be to coordinate the activities of these 

 governments and of nongovernmental entities directed toward the use 



