16 U.S.C. § 410eeee–9 — Cooperation

The Secretary of the Army must cooperate with the Secretary of the Interior about how much water the New River Gorge National River needs. Specifically, the Secretary of the Army must release water from the Bluestone Lake project. That release must be consistent with the Bluestone Lake project's own purposes and activities — meaning the Army can't ignore the dam project's normal operating goals. But within that limit, the Army must release water in a quantity, and in a manner, that is sufficient to protect the national river's biological resources, such as fish and other aquatic life, and to support recreational use of the river, such as boating and fishing. In short, this section requires two federal agencies to work together so that water releases from an existing Army dam project also serve the needs of the national river downstream.