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Show NEW YORK 541 property and the public health or welfare from damage by floods, such work in general to be done at the expense of the owners of the properties and of the political subdivisions of the State benefited thereby. River improvement districts may be created pursuant to petition filed with the department,93 and river improvement associations are to be formed with the object of representing the "interests of its members before the department and elsewhere and to serve as a channel of communication between the members thereof and the department."94 (10) Joint river regulating, river improvement, and drainage im- provement districts {Title 25) The purpose of this part of the Environmental Conservation Law is to permit river regulating districts formed under title 21 of article 15 (discussed above) to acquire extended powers and duties by the formation by the department of a river improvement or drainage improvement district, or both, which districts shall have the same boundaries as the river regulating district. They are to be joined as one body corporate and are subject to the general supervision of the department, but are administered by the board of the river regulating district.95 Subsequent sections relate to financial matters and the powers of the department when existing river regulating districts are expanded into joint districts.96 C. ARTICLE 17: WATER POLLUTION CONTROL Section 17-0101 declares the public policy of the State with regard to water quality, and that policy is: to maintain reasonable standards of purity of the waters of the state consistent with public health and public enjoyment thereof, the propagation and protec- tion of fish and wildlife, including birds, mammals and other terrestrial and aquatic life, and the industrial development of the state, and to that end require the use of all known available and reasonable methods to prevent and control the pollution of the waters of the state of New York. Consistent with that policy, the purpose of the article is said to be to safeguard the waters of the State from pollution by preventing any new pollution and abating existing pollution.97 "Waters" within the scope of the act are broadly defined to include all surface and ground water.98 Title 3 of article 17 provides for the classification of waters and the adoption of standards consistent with such classification. In adopting a classification for waters under the statute, the depart- ment is required to consider four basic criteria.99 The first has to do with the physical characteristics of the stream, such as size, depth, surface area covered, volume, direction and rate of flow, stream gradient, and temperature of the water.100 The second relates to the nature and character of the area bordering the waterway, and re- quires an analysis of the suitability of the watercourse for particular oaECL sec. 15-2303. MECL sec. 15-2305. 96 ECL sec. 15-2501. «>ECL sees. 15-2503 and 15-2505. WECL sec. 17-0103. »8ECL sec. 17-0105.2. 89 ECL sec. 17-0301.3. «» ECL sec. 17-0301.3.a. |