The Mayor of the District of Columbia shall have the power to lay water mains and water pipes and to erect fireplugs and hydrants wherever the same may be in his judgment necessary for the public safety, comfort, or health.
(R.S., D.C., § 204; June 17, 1890, 26 Stat. 159, ch. 428.)
Prior Codifications1981 Ed., § 43-1501.
1973 Ed., § 43-1501.
Cross ReferencesNational capital housing authority, low income housing, acquisition, development and disposition of property, see § 6-101.01.
Permit and excavation fees, sewer, water and gas main, see § 2-136.
Public roads and bridges, jurisdiction in mayor, see § 9-101.02.
Taxation, budget estimates, mayor to include expenses of Water Department in annual estimate, see § 47-212.
Change in GovernmentThis section originated at a time when local government powers were delegated to a Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia (see Acts Relating to the Establishment of the District of Columbia and its Various Forms of Governmental Organization in Volume 1). Section 401 of Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1967 (see Reorganization Plans in Volume 1) transferred all of the functions of the Board of Commissioners under this section to a single Commissioner. The District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act, 87 Stat. 818, § 711 ( D.C. Code, § 1-207.11), abolished the District of Columbia Council and the Office of Commissioner of the District of Columbia. These branches of government were replaced by the Council of the District of Columbia and the Office of Mayor of the District of Columbia, respectively. Accordingly, and also pursuant to § 714(a) of such Act ( D.C. Code, § 1-207.14(a)), appropriate changes in terminology were made in this section.