{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-151.720","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 151.720","heading":"Powers of authority.","body":"The Kentucky River Authority is authorized and empowered to:\n(1) Construct, reconstruct, provide for the major maintenance, or repair the locks and\ndams on the Kentucky River and all real and personal property pertaining thereto, as\nwell as maintain the channel;\n(2) Acquire by purchase, exercise of the rights of eminent domain, grant, gift, devise, or\notherwise, the fee simple title to or any acceptable lesser interest in any real or\npersonal property and by lease or other conveyance, contract for the right to use and\noccupy any real or personal property selected in the discretion of the authority as\nconstituting necessary, desirable, or acceptable sites to fulfill its statutory authority\nand power;\n(3) Lease its real or personal property to other state agen cies, political subdivisions of\nthe Commonwealth, corporations, partnerships, associations, foundations, or\npersons as the authority deems necessary to carry out the purposes of this section;\n(4) Sell or otherwise dispose of its real or personal property i n accordance with KRS\n56.463 and 45A.045;\n(5) Collect water use fees from all facilities using water from the Kentucky River basin,\nexcept those facilities using water primarily for agricultural purposes. Facilities\ncharged such a fee may pass on all or any part of the fee;\n(6) Issue revenue bonds in accordance with KRS 151.730;\n(7) Employ persons to carry out the authority's responsibilities with revenue from the\nwater use fees, including an executive director who shall serve at the pleasure of the\nauthority;\n(8) Contract for services with other state agencies, political subdivisions of the\nCommonwealth, corporations, partnerships, associations, foundations, or persons to\nperform its duties;\n(9) Promulgate administrative regulations providing for clean wate r, which shall not be\nless stringent than the state and federal regulations for clean water;\n(10) Exercise all other powers necessary to perform its public purpose to implement and\nenforce the plans developed by the authority pursuant to this section and K RS\n151.727 and 151.728, and to enforce administrative regulations promulgated by the\nauthority. The long -range water resource plan and drought response plan shall be\nimplemented for the basin upon the direction of the authority;\n(11) Develop comprehensive plans for the management of the Kentucky River within the\nbasin, including a long-range water resource plan and a drought response plan. Each\ncounty within the basin shall develop a long-range water resource plan and submit it\nto the authority. The authori ty, after consultation with the Energy and Environment\nCabinet, shall develop a unified long -range water resource plan for the basin. The\nunified long-range water resource plan shall be implemented over short -range and\nlong-range time periods. The short -range plan shall be for a period of six (6) years\nand the long -range plan shall be for a period of twenty (20) years. The authority\nshall conduct a public hearing on the plan prior to its adoption and amend the plan\nas appropriate based on the comments recei ved. The Energy and Environment\nCabinet shall review the draft unified plan and provide comment during the public\ncomment period concerning the consistency of the plan with the state requirements\nunder KRS Chapters 224 and 151. A drought response plan for the basin shall be\ndeveloped by the authority and shall be coordinated with the Energy and\nEnvironment Cabinet to assure consistency with KRS Chapters 224 and 151, and\nthis plan shall be implemented for the basin upon the direction of the authority;\n(12) Develop and promote a plan for the protection and use of groundwater within the\nbasin. Administrative regulations may be promulgated implementing the plan, and\nthese regulations shall not be less stringent than state and federal regulations\nprotecting groundwater;\n(13) Promote private investment in the installation of hydroelectric generating units on\nall existing constructed and reconstructed Kentucky River dams under the\njurisdiction of the authority, by developing a standard lease, establishing reasonable\nfinancial responsibility requirements, verifying that the proposed installation of the\nhydroelectric unit will not adversely affect the structural integrity of the dam, and\nadopting a schedule of reasonable fees for water used in the generation of\nhydroelectric power;\n(14) Develop recreational areas within the basin. These recreational areas may be\noperated and funded by the state Department of Parks, Office of Kentucky Nature\nPreserves, or other governmental en tity as specifically authorized or permitted\nwithin the biennial executive budget. There is hereby created the Kentucky River\nPark to be located as determined by the authority;\n(15) Utilize funds provided for recreational purposes within the biennial execu tive\nbudget for major or minor maintenance if the authority certifies to the secretary of\nthe Finance and Administration Cabinet that a significant need exists for the repairs\nand no other funds are available for the maintenance;\n(16) Coordinate the Kentuc ky River basin water resources activities among state\nagencies;\n(17) Report quarterly on all of its activities to the legislative Committee on\nAppropriations and Revenue;\n(18) Receive reports from state agencies on litigation concerning the Kentucky River,\nwhich agencies are hereby directed to report to the authority;\n(19) Credit to the authority any income derived from the interest earned on the\ninvestment of the water use fees collected, which shall be available for the\nauthority's expenditure; and\n(20) Accomplish the watershed management mission of the authority, which is to fulfill\nthe provisions of this section for the Kentucky River basin, the boundary of which\nshall be defined by a hydrologic map promulgated in an administrative regulation.","path":["KRS Chapter 151"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=47567","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:50:46Z","sha256":"1655ba226bb39b44fe84438bee2a8f4e8a5dfd22149a323731c1971c574db780","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-151.710","next":"us-ky/krs-151.723"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}