Waterworks Impact Assessment
The explosive growth of industry in Fin-Allan and the popularity of water wheels as a source of power for various applications has caused a large amount of demand for various waterworks upon the river Dent. The Dent is by far the most engineered river in the world, with the fairly short channel down from Lake Donner to the open ocean having been contained, narrowed, widened, along with all other sorts of works to extract the maximum benefit from the flow of the river. Real-estate in the Yards is in short supply, and and each new project impacts everyone who draws from the river downstream. This has forced the Exodite authorities in the city to institute a system of permits, banning modification or exploitation of the river channel without their express written permission. This system also required them to determine ahead of time which developments would be acceptable, and which would cause too much damage downstream.
Enter the Waterworks Impact Assessment, a survey performed by Exodite engineers whenever someone from within the hierarchy or an unrelated human plans another waterwork with a credible plan for implementing it. Dozens of assessments of this type have been performed by the Exodites since the permits system was implemented, and each assessment is recorded in the archives of the town hall, along with the decision made based on the assessment.
The assessment is used to estimate whether a planned adjustment of the channel or a specific kind of water wheel would unduly affect downstream developments. In as much as the assessment and the permit have prevented old developments from being sabotaged by new ones, the assessment has been successful. However, the Rivermen in particular allege that the permits are mainly used to rubberstamp the developments planned by the Exodites themselves and to monopolize development of the river to keep as much of it as possible in state hands. Thus, the system is rather unpopular among both Khelish laborers and industrialists. The Exodites, for their part, deny that the assessments are politically motivated, and claim that their millers and engineers simply design better waterworks.
Document Structure
Legal status
The assessment and permits are regulated as an ordinance by the mayor of Fin-Allan, and could be overturned at any time by higher authorities, such as the Minister of Fin-Allan or the Exodite Council. Neither the minister nor the council have much interest in interfering with what is largely an internal affair of the city however, so the documents and permits retain the force of law.
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