In 1989 the Legislature passed the Great Lakes Water Conservation and Management Act. The Act placed certain requirements on the public who withdraw large amounts of Great Lakes Basin water.
New Water Resources Law
A new state-wide water resources law went into effect on February 15, 2012. This law supercedes the previous Great Lakes Water Registration Program.
The law requires a DEC permit for water withdrawal systems having the capacity to withdraw 100,000 gallons per day (gpd) or more of surface water or groundwater with some exceptions.
The law also requires annual water use reporting and statewide registration of existing agricultural withdrawals that are greater than 100,000 gpd (30 day average) and major basin water diversions of greater than 1,000,000 gpd. For more information on the program, please go to the Water Withdrawal, Conservation & Drought pages.
