33 U.S.C. § 701A
Section 701a · Declaration of policy of 1936 act
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 48 court decisions — leading case American Textile Manufacturers Institute, Inc. v. Donovan (1981)
Most recently applied in Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. v. Phoenix Assurance Co. (July 1996)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
It is recognized that destructive floods upon the rivers of the United States, upsetting orderly processes and causing loss of life and property, including the erosion of lands, and impairing and obstructing navigation, highways, railroads, and other channels of commerce between the States, constitute a menace to national welfare; that it is the sense of Congress that flood control on navigable waters or their tributaries is a proper activity of the Federal Government in cooperation with States, their political subdivisions, and localities thereof; that investigations and improvements of rivers and other waterways, including watersheds thereof, for flood-control purposes are in the interest of the general welfare; that the Federal Government should improve or participate in the improvement of navigable waters or their tributaries, including watersheds thereof, for flood-control purposes if the benefits to whomsoever they may accrue are in excess of the estimated costs, and if the lives and social security of people are otherwise adversely affected.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Cross References
Soil conservation, watershed protection, and flood prevention, generally, see section 1001 et seq. of Title 16, Conservation.