In the United States, there are multiple laws known as the Flood Control Act (FCA).
Typically, they are enacted to control irrigation because of floods or other natural disasters and are administered by the United States Army Corps of Engineers.
These laws were enacted beginning in 1917, with the most recent one being passed in 1965.
There were several major floods between 1849 and 1936 that moved Congress to pass legislation.
The first significant federal flood control law was the Swamp Land Act of 1850.