The department shall continue to exercise all the functions, powers and duties of the former Water Resources Commission as specified in the former Conservation Law in effect on the date of the enactment of chapter 140 of the laws of 1970, and all the functions, powers and duties of the Water Power and Control Commission as previously established by chapter 242 of the laws of 1928 and of its predecessors and all the functions, powers and duties enumerated in this article as amended and as may hereinafter be prescribed by law.
New York Legal Code