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Flooding concerns cause re-evaluation of water release from N.Y. reservoirs
Monday, October 01, 2007
BY DEBRA FRIEDMAN
EWING The commission that manages the reservoirs on the Delaware River has agreed to consider changing the way it releases water into the river amid an outcry from residents downstream upset about three serious floods in less than two years.
The Delaware River Basin Commission will hold public hearings on whether water should be released from three New York State reservoirs on a consistent annual schedule based on the reservoir levels.
As it stands now, the reservoir releases are done based on the temperature and flow to protect downstream fisheries.
Residents downstream from the reservoirs are seeking the shift in strategy in the belief that it will help lessen flooding, which has damaged hundreds of homes and businesses, including in Mercer and Hunterdon counties and Bucks County, Pa., in recent times.
A petition with 12,000 signatures was submitted to the commission at its meeting Wednesday.
According to DRBC spokesman Clarke Rupert, water releases from the upstream reservoirs can serve several competing purposes, including water supply, fishery preservation, flood control and drought mitigation.
"The proposed (flow plan) would ... base the release on reservoir storage levels," Rupert said. "There would be larger releases when the reservoir levels are high and smaller releases when storage is at or below normal."
So far, the four states served by the river and New York City have agreed to the reservoir change, called the flexible flow management plan, Rupert said.
Now, the DRBC must first hold a public process to consider the plan.
The commission was formed in 1961 as a result of a 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decree and is composed of representatives of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York State, Delaware and the federal government.
The decree grew out of an interstate water dispute involving the flow of water between the four states and New York City, and ensures that the DRBC cannot take actions that would adversely affect the diversions and releases in the reservoir's levels without unanimous consent from all parties, Rupert said.
He said the commission's job is a "balancing act" that involves making sure there is enough water in times of drought as well as for habitat fisheries.
Residents are asking the DRBC to keep the reservoirs no higher than 80 percent of their capacity at any time, Rupert said. But capping the reservoir capacity is not as simple as it sounds, because of the potential for drought conditions that could deplete the reservoirs below necessary levels.
Residents and community groups along the river have said that the reservoirs' water levels are too high, contributing to flooding downstream. However, DRBC officials have said the reservoirs must be kept at certain levels to supply water to New York City, as well as downstream municipalities, such as Trenton and Philadelphia.
© 2007 The Times of Trenton
© 2007 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.
Flooding concerns cause re-evaluation of water release from N.Y. reservoirs
Monday, October 01, 2007
BY DEBRA FRIEDMAN
EWING The commission that manages the reservoirs on the Delaware River has agreed to consider changing the way it releases water into the river amid an outcry from residents downstream upset about three serious floods in less than two years.
The Delaware River Basin Commission will hold public hearings on whether water should be released from three New York State reservoirs on a consistent annual schedule based on the reservoir levels.
As it stands now, the reservoir releases are done based on the temperature and flow to protect downstream fisheries.
Residents downstream from the reservoirs are seeking the shift in strategy in the belief that it will help lessen flooding, which has damaged hundreds of homes and businesses, including in Mercer and Hunterdon counties and Bucks County, Pa., in recent times.
A petition with 12,000 signatures was submitted to the commission at its meeting Wednesday.
According to DRBC spokesman Clarke Rupert, water releases from the upstream reservoirs can serve several competing purposes, including water supply, fishery preservation, flood control and drought mitigation.
"The proposed (flow plan) would ... base the release on reservoir storage levels," Rupert said. "There would be larger releases when the reservoir levels are high and smaller releases when storage is at or below normal."
So far, the four states served by the river and New York City have agreed to the reservoir change, called the flexible flow management plan, Rupert said.
Now, the DRBC must first hold a public process to consider the plan.
The commission was formed in 1961 as a result of a 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decree and is composed of representatives of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York State, Delaware and the federal government.
The decree grew out of an interstate water dispute involving the flow of water between the four states and New York City, and ensures that the DRBC cannot take actions that would adversely affect the diversions and releases in the reservoir's levels without unanimous consent from all parties, Rupert said.
He said the commission's job is a "balancing act" that involves making sure there is enough water in times of drought as well as for habitat fisheries.
Residents are asking the DRBC to keep the reservoirs no higher than 80 percent of their capacity at any time, Rupert said. But capping the reservoir capacity is not as simple as it sounds, because of the potential for drought conditions that could deplete the reservoirs below necessary levels.
Residents and community groups along the river have said that the reservoirs' water levels are too high, contributing to flooding downstream. However, DRBC officials have said the reservoirs must be kept at certain levels to supply water to New York City, as well as downstream municipalities, such as Trenton and Philadelphia.
© 2007 The Times of Trenton
© 2007 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.
