N.Y. Environmental Conservation Law § 15-1719

§ 15-1719. Equitable rental for Niagara River water.\n The department shall have the power to fix and determine, after a\nhearing held upon notice to the parties interested, the amount of an\nequitable rental, which is hereby charged pursuant to the reservations\nmade in chapter 597 of the laws of 1918 for the diversion, as specified\nin such chapter, of water from the Niagara River in excess of a daily\ndiversion at the rate of fifteen thousand one hundred cubic feet per\nsecond, and also, from July 1, 1943, the amount of an equitable rental,\nwhich is hereby charged, for the diversion of water from the Niagara\nRiver to the extent of a daily diversion at the rate of fifteen thousand\none hundred cubic feet per second and not otherwise subject to the\nimposition of an equitable rental as specified in such chapter. Such\nrental shall be fixed in like manner as if application were made for a\nlicense under the provisions of title 17 of this article before the\nwater was used, and the people of the state may sue for and collect in\nbehalf of the state such rentals as so fixed and determined.\n