Task force recommends better planning, regulations to deal with flooding
Wednesday, July 18, 2007 Mail to a friend Printer Friendly Version
New Jersey Herald
New Jersey Herald File Photo The river rises around a home in Slateford, Pa. The river was expected to rise another 4 feet after this flooding occurred in June 2006.
By BRUCE A. SCRUTON
bscruton@njherald.com
While noting there will always be floods on the Delaware River, a governors' task force study released Tuesday calls for a full evaluation of how the various reservoirs on the upper tributaries of the river could be operated to reduce flooding.
Noting the public's perception that the floods of the past three years would have been less severe if New York City's reservoir system had not been at capacity, the report calls for releases which would reduce the likelihood and volume of spills during storm events.
What needs to be studied is the storage capacity of the reservoirs and how much the level of a reservoir below its capacity, known as voids, should be maintained to ease downstream flooding.
In September 2004, and again in April 2005 and June 2006, the Delaware River basin was hit with three major floods which, in some places became the floods of records. Nine people died as a result of the floods and property damage was in the tens of millions.
As a result, the governors of New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware put together the 31-person task force to look at the floods and what needs to be done to mitigate flooding in the future.
The report makes 45 recommendations, ranging from improved planning and regulations in the floodplain to operations of the reservoirs and the type of structures and stormwater facilities.
This flood study, while it does touch upon the reservoirs, is separate from another ongoing study called the Flexible Flow Management Plan. That plan, which was originally set to be discussed today by the Delaware River Basin Commission, is still under review.
The flow management plan is an effort to regulate how much water is released from the reservoirs — three New York City reservoirs in the Catskills and the Lake Wallenpaupack reservoir in Pennsylvania — to provide a sufficient water level for recreation, fishing and ecological health of the river.
Diane Tharp, a Shawnee, Pa., resident who has become a lead activist on the Delaware floods, said Tuesday she hopes the recommendations made in Tuesday's report will be incorporated into the flow management study.
She noted the task force calls for a better computer model on the river and flooding since the current model is ineffective and the flow management plan relies on that outdated program.
Tharp also called for a more thorough study of the earthen dams which create New York's reservoirs and another set or sets of eyes looking at data from the reservoirs and its connecting aqueducts. "How accurate is the data we are receiving from the NYDEP (New York City Department of Environmental Protection)," she asked, noting there have been recent federal indictments alleging falsifying of reports to the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
The task force report was released by Delaware River Basin Commission Executive Director Carol R. Collier who sent the report up to the four governors. The Commission is composed of those four governors and a representative from the federal government. The commission was created in 1961 as a byproduct of a 1954 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on how much water could be diverted and how the river should be managed.
The report is divided into six areas: reservoir operations, structural and non-structural measures, stormwater management, floodplain mapping, floodplain regulation and flood warning. Under each of those areas are several recommendations which are given a time frame and a dollar value.
The task force did not assign a priority to any of its recommendations.
The biggest change, however, will be in the area of operations of the reservoirs. New York City maintains that the reservoirs were built to provide drinking water and not for flood control. In the days after the floods and during public comment periods held by the task force, critics pointed to the operations of the New York City reservoirs which were at capacity and spilled water into the river.
The critics, such as Tharp, said if the reservoirs had been drawn down by just 15 percent before the rains, that storage capacity could have acted as a "shock absorber" to lessen the severity of the floods.
But the report notes that historic data indicates major flooding on the main stem of the Delaware River occurred before the reservoirs were built or in the absence of spills after the reservoirs were put into service.
The floods of August 1955 and March 1904 remain the floods of record for many locations along the river. The floods of the past three years, however, are among the five worst and, in terms of dollar damage, are at the top of the list.
The task force calls for more funding to buy property within the floodplain as well as flood-proofing existing structures and notes there is a need for a floodplain map which is consistent throughout the entire river basin. New maps should incorporate existing and planned development and update the risk zones.
In addition, the report says there needs to be uniform regulations and people moving to the area need to be told if they are within a flood zone.
While modern science has provided better warning of floods, the task force said the river gage network and its forecast points need to be evaluated and the gages need to be protected so they aren't damaged in a flood.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007 Mail to a friend Printer Friendly Version
New Jersey Herald
New Jersey Herald File Photo The river rises around a home in Slateford, Pa. The river was expected to rise another 4 feet after this flooding occurred in June 2006.
By BRUCE A. SCRUTON
bscruton@njherald.com
While noting there will always be floods on the Delaware River, a governors' task force study released Tuesday calls for a full evaluation of how the various reservoirs on the upper tributaries of the river could be operated to reduce flooding.
Noting the public's perception that the floods of the past three years would have been less severe if New York City's reservoir system had not been at capacity, the report calls for releases which would reduce the likelihood and volume of spills during storm events.
What needs to be studied is the storage capacity of the reservoirs and how much the level of a reservoir below its capacity, known as voids, should be maintained to ease downstream flooding.
In September 2004, and again in April 2005 and June 2006, the Delaware River basin was hit with three major floods which, in some places became the floods of records. Nine people died as a result of the floods and property damage was in the tens of millions.
As a result, the governors of New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware put together the 31-person task force to look at the floods and what needs to be done to mitigate flooding in the future.
The report makes 45 recommendations, ranging from improved planning and regulations in the floodplain to operations of the reservoirs and the type of structures and stormwater facilities.
This flood study, while it does touch upon the reservoirs, is separate from another ongoing study called the Flexible Flow Management Plan. That plan, which was originally set to be discussed today by the Delaware River Basin Commission, is still under review.
The flow management plan is an effort to regulate how much water is released from the reservoirs — three New York City reservoirs in the Catskills and the Lake Wallenpaupack reservoir in Pennsylvania — to provide a sufficient water level for recreation, fishing and ecological health of the river.
Diane Tharp, a Shawnee, Pa., resident who has become a lead activist on the Delaware floods, said Tuesday she hopes the recommendations made in Tuesday's report will be incorporated into the flow management study.
She noted the task force calls for a better computer model on the river and flooding since the current model is ineffective and the flow management plan relies on that outdated program.
Tharp also called for a more thorough study of the earthen dams which create New York's reservoirs and another set or sets of eyes looking at data from the reservoirs and its connecting aqueducts. "How accurate is the data we are receiving from the NYDEP (New York City Department of Environmental Protection)," she asked, noting there have been recent federal indictments alleging falsifying of reports to the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
The task force report was released by Delaware River Basin Commission Executive Director Carol R. Collier who sent the report up to the four governors. The Commission is composed of those four governors and a representative from the federal government. The commission was created in 1961 as a byproduct of a 1954 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on how much water could be diverted and how the river should be managed.
The report is divided into six areas: reservoir operations, structural and non-structural measures, stormwater management, floodplain mapping, floodplain regulation and flood warning. Under each of those areas are several recommendations which are given a time frame and a dollar value.
The task force did not assign a priority to any of its recommendations.
The biggest change, however, will be in the area of operations of the reservoirs. New York City maintains that the reservoirs were built to provide drinking water and not for flood control. In the days after the floods and during public comment periods held by the task force, critics pointed to the operations of the New York City reservoirs which were at capacity and spilled water into the river.
The critics, such as Tharp, said if the reservoirs had been drawn down by just 15 percent before the rains, that storage capacity could have acted as a "shock absorber" to lessen the severity of the floods.
But the report notes that historic data indicates major flooding on the main stem of the Delaware River occurred before the reservoirs were built or in the absence of spills after the reservoirs were put into service.
The floods of August 1955 and March 1904 remain the floods of record for many locations along the river. The floods of the past three years, however, are among the five worst and, in terms of dollar damage, are at the top of the list.
The task force calls for more funding to buy property within the floodplain as well as flood-proofing existing structures and notes there is a need for a floodplain map which is consistent throughout the entire river basin. New maps should incorporate existing and planned development and update the risk zones.
In addition, the report says there needs to be uniform regulations and people moving to the area need to be told if they are within a flood zone.
While modern science has provided better warning of floods, the task force said the river gage network and its forecast points need to be evaluated and the gages need to be protected so they aren't damaged in a flood.
