Composed of ten members appointed in equal numbers by the Senate majority leader and the speaker of the Assembly, the committee held public hearings in the summer and fall of 1943. These hearings and research conducted by the committee's counsel produced over 200 exhibits including charts, tables, maps, engineering reports, and other documents. Many of these exhibits were included in the revised edition of the committee's complete report, which was issued in 1945. The committee's recommendations were enacted with minor modifications as chapter 1035 of the laws of 1957. The statute stipulated that any dam or similar structure in the outlet of Lake George must be operated so as to maintain specifically prescribed water levels. The superintendent of public works was granted continuous access to such structures and authorized to operate them whenever necessary to maintain the water levels prescribed by the statute.
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The Joint Legislative Committee on Lake George Water Conditions was appointed pursuant to a concurrent resolution adopted in 1943. The committee's mandate was to investigate the causes of abnormally high and low water levels at Lake George and to report its findings and recommendations to the legislature during the 1944 regular session. Also at issue were the respective rights of the State and private property owners. The State had filed suit against System Properties, Inc. to determine rights and titles relative to the outlet of Lake George and the Ticonderoga River. The State's goal was to have System Properties' dam at Ticonderoga, which was being leased at the time to International Paper Company, ordered removed as a trespass on State property. The legislature hoped that the committee's work would produce legislation aimed at both correcting the abnormal water conditions and at declaring the State's policy with respect to the property issues involved.
L1957, Ch. 1035.
