OCR Text |
Show Wheeling Creek Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention District Compact, 1967 ARTICLE I. RECITATION OF REASONS FOR COMPACT Whereas, Wheeling Creek, a tributary of the Ohio Kiver, arises in Pennsylvania, flows through Washington and Greene Counties of that commonwealth, enters the State of West Virginia, flows through Mar- shall and Ohio Counties, West Virginia, and empties into the Ohio River at Wheeling, West Virginia; and Whereas, The inhabitants of Marshall and Ohio Counties, West Virginia, and, also, but to a much lesser degree, the inhabitants of Washington and Greene Counties, Pennsylvania, living along Wheel- ing Creek have over the year experienced loss of life and property from flooding of that stream; and Whereas, Surveys made by the Soil Conservation Service of the United States Department of Agriculture indicate that the inhabitants of the four counties named can best be protected from the flooding of Wheeling Creek by flood prevention dams constructed thereon with some of the dams being located on the upper reaches of the stream and its tributaries in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; and Whereas, The federal Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act of 1954, ias amended, authorizes, under certain circumstances, fed- eral assistance to local organizations in preparing and carrying out undertakings for flood prevention and the conservation, development, utilization and disposal of water in watershed or subwatershed areas; Whereas, No local organization within the meaning of the federal act aforesaid established by or organized under the laws of West Virginia is camipetent under state laws to acquire land for, construct, and operate ,with or without federal assistance flood prevention facil- ities in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and it appears that no such local organization established by or organized under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania can justify the expenditure of locally raised funds to construct and operate flood prevention facilities which will benefit primarily the inhabitants of the neighboring State of West Virginia; and Whereas, Facilities erected on the upper reaches of Wheeling Creek and its tributaries for flood control and prevention can nevertheless have a recreational value for the citizens of both West Virginia and Pennsylvania and particularly the citizens of Ohio and Marshall Coun- ties, West Virginia, and Washington and Greene Counties, Pennsyl- vania ; accordingly, for purposes of promoting that potential, as well as providing a vehicle or means whereby federal assistance may be enlisted for the protection of citizens of her neighboring State of West Virginia from the flooding of Wheeling Creek, the Common- 354 |