Reservoir plan may be on horizon
Reservoir plan may be on horizon (phillyBurbs.com) | Courier Times
By BRIAN SCHEID
Bucks County Courier Times
After years of delays, stalled negotiations and marathon public hearings, a new plan for the Delaware River's reservoirs could be less than two weeks away.
On Sept. 26, members of the Delaware River Basin Commission will consider potential rule changes on the Delaware River, including a management plan for the river's New York Cannonsville, Pepacton and Neversink reservoirs.
The plan, known as the Flexible Flow Management Plan, has been revised nine times since 1977, according to Clarke Rupert, a spokesman for the commission, and could be changed again next Wednesday when the commission meets in West Trenton. The management plan has sparked considerable interest in the wake of three recent devastating floods along the Delaware.
“A number of things could happen and, frankly, I'm not sure what's going to happen,” Rupert said.
What happens at that meeting largely depends on a pending agreement that needs to be unanimously approved by officials with Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware, New Jersey and New York City.
“We don't have that agreement yet,” Rupert said. “It's really been an ongoing process for quite some time and at this point we just haven't reached a consensus.”
For years, homeowners in communities along the river have complained that the reservoirs are almost always kept at or near capacity, a storage problem that can worsen flooding damage further downriver. Those complaints, however, are countered by concern from New York City officials, who get much of their public drinking supply from the reservoirs, that reservoir storage restrictions could imperil that supply in a drought.
In May, commission members agreed to extend a temporary program to release billions of gallons of water from New York's reservoirs from July through March in an effort to prevent flooding downstream. Under the plan, water would be released any time levels reached a combined level of 80 percent capacity from September to February and at higher levels in the two months that fall before and after that time.
That plan could be made permanent or year-round if an agreement between the states and the city is reached, or it could be scrapped completely. The commission might consider one of the earlier plans.
“We could revert to a previous flow regime ... it's still unclear,” Rupert said.
If a new plan is approved it will be only temporary at first, Rupert said, so an extensive public comment process can take place.
“There's going to be ample time for the public to review, to dissect, what's contained in a revised proposal,” Rupert said.
The hearing will be part of the commission's business meeting starting at 1:30 p.m. on Sept. 26 at the commission's office building on State Police Drive in West Trenton.
Brian Scheid can be reached at 215-949-4165 or bscheid@phillyBurbs.com
September 15, 2007 5:34 AM
Reservoir plan may be on horizon (phillyBurbs.com) | Courier Times
By BRIAN SCHEID
Bucks County Courier Times
After years of delays, stalled negotiations and marathon public hearings, a new plan for the Delaware River's reservoirs could be less than two weeks away.
On Sept. 26, members of the Delaware River Basin Commission will consider potential rule changes on the Delaware River, including a management plan for the river's New York Cannonsville, Pepacton and Neversink reservoirs.
The plan, known as the Flexible Flow Management Plan, has been revised nine times since 1977, according to Clarke Rupert, a spokesman for the commission, and could be changed again next Wednesday when the commission meets in West Trenton. The management plan has sparked considerable interest in the wake of three recent devastating floods along the Delaware.
“A number of things could happen and, frankly, I'm not sure what's going to happen,” Rupert said.
What happens at that meeting largely depends on a pending agreement that needs to be unanimously approved by officials with Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware, New Jersey and New York City.
“We don't have that agreement yet,” Rupert said. “It's really been an ongoing process for quite some time and at this point we just haven't reached a consensus.”
For years, homeowners in communities along the river have complained that the reservoirs are almost always kept at or near capacity, a storage problem that can worsen flooding damage further downriver. Those complaints, however, are countered by concern from New York City officials, who get much of their public drinking supply from the reservoirs, that reservoir storage restrictions could imperil that supply in a drought.
In May, commission members agreed to extend a temporary program to release billions of gallons of water from New York's reservoirs from July through March in an effort to prevent flooding downstream. Under the plan, water would be released any time levels reached a combined level of 80 percent capacity from September to February and at higher levels in the two months that fall before and after that time.
That plan could be made permanent or year-round if an agreement between the states and the city is reached, or it could be scrapped completely. The commission might consider one of the earlier plans.
“We could revert to a previous flow regime ... it's still unclear,” Rupert said.
If a new plan is approved it will be only temporary at first, Rupert said, so an extensive public comment process can take place.
“There's going to be ample time for the public to review, to dissect, what's contained in a revised proposal,” Rupert said.
The hearing will be part of the commission's business meeting starting at 1:30 p.m. on Sept. 26 at the commission's office building on State Police Drive in West Trenton.
Brian Scheid can be reached at 215-949-4165 or bscheid@phillyBurbs.com
September 15, 2007 5:34 AM
