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<br />on the authorities delegated to it by Congress. These may include authorities <br /> <br /> <br />otherwise possessed only by the Federal Government and its agencies. In other <br /> <br /> <br />words, federally-chartered corporations could, if authorized, perform federal <br /> <br /> <br />regula tory functions or even issue obligations with the guarantee of the Federal <br /> <br /> <br />Government (National Water Commission, 1973). <br /> <br />A National Water Commission study of the federally-chartered corporation <br /> <br /> <br />as a mechanism for water management concluded that to be most effective, the <br /> <br /> <br />corporation would need to involve state governments in its operation. In fact, <br /> <br /> <br />the study implied that to be acceptable as a river basin management institution, <br /> <br /> <br />the federally-chartered corporation would have to be controlled by the states in <br /> <br /> <br />a river basin, i.e., state appointed representatives or directors would have to <br /> <br /> <br />represent a majority of the corporation's board of directors. The study <br /> <br /> <br />concluded that there should be no legal constraint to Congress permitting this in <br /> <br /> <br />the corporation's enabling legislation (National Water Commission, 1973). <br /> <br />A greater problem than state control of a federally-chartered corporation, <br /> <br /> <br />the study stated, would be possible prohibitions in state constitutions against the <br /> <br /> <br />assignment of any state powers to, or the exercise of any state authority by, <br /> <br /> <br />the corporation. One way to overcome such prohibitions, the study suggested, <br /> <br /> <br />might be for Congress to grant advance consent for river basin states, together <br /> <br /> <br />with the Federal Government, to enter into a compact to establish a <br /> <br /> <br />corporation, or to become members in an already established corporation. Since <br /> <br /> <br />an interstate compact entity is by definition an agency of the participating <br /> <br /> <br />states, it would be in a position to exercise state authority and thus would not <br /> <br /> <br />violate the possible constitutional prohibitions. The study said the problem could <br /> <br />-28- <br />