County Addresses Flooding Along Hackensack River
County officials and representatives from United Water hold meeting Monday to discuss the increase in repetitive flooding in towns along the Hackensack River.
On the heels of Mayor Ann Subrizi's meeting with the DEP on Tuesday regarding repetitive flooding of homes and businesses along the Hackensack River that included officials from River Edge and Oradell, the county has arranged a meeting of the mayors and affected residents of flood prone towns, along with representatives from United Water, for Monday July 2 at 7 p.m. at One Bergen County Plaza in Hackensack.
The Hackensack River flows into the Lake DeForest reservoir before flowing downstream into the Lake Tappan reservoir. From here it flows south throughout the suburban communities of Oradell, where it forms the Oradell Reservoir, and continues to flow into several streams, such as the Pascack and Hirschfield Brooks, as it travels through New Milford, River Edge, Hackensack, Teaneck, Bogota and Ridgefield Park.
New Milford residents experienced unprecedented flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene and have been vocal at mayor and council meetings about finding solutions.
According to Subrizi, potential solutions, such a lowering the reservoir in advance of a storm and dredging the Hackensack River, were not well received by the NJDEP. Subrizi reported that the NJDEP did not consider lowering the reservoirs a viable solution to prevent flooding.
"They consider water supply more important than flood mitigation and they don’t think a drinking water reservoir can be used in flood mitigation," Subrizi said.
Councilwoman Hedy Grant, also present at Tuesday's meeting, reported that the NJDEP said that they can only order United Water to lower the water if they think that the dam is endangered.
In his appearance before the New Milford Mayor and Council in November, Richard Henning, a spokesman for United Water, made it clear that water supply and flood mitigation are two completely different needs. United Water is in the business of supplying water to almost 800,000 customers in Bergen and Hudson Counties on a daily basis and must always guard against droughts.
During that meeting, Henning held that United Water maintains that as a steward of water supply they are required by the DEP to provide an adequate supply of water to its customers at all times.
"If you release water you won't get it back," Henning said, and United Water is required by the DEP to maintain a safe yield based on supply demands from their customers. According to Henning, the Hackensack River system has a safe yield of 66 million gallons.
Monday's meeting with Bergen County officials and representatives from United Water is expected to give mayors and residents a chance to talk about flooding issues and the affect of repetitive flooding on their towns.
New Milford's SOD (Stop Over Development) will be at the county meeting.
Bergen County meeting on flooding along the Hackensack River is being held Monday, July 2 at 7 p.m. at One Bergen County Plaza in Hackensack.
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Ulises
11:50 am on Friday, June 29, 2012
Rich Henning clearly stated, at last year's M&C meeting, the main reason flooding is more common now is because of overdevelopment. He said this, while concurrently, his employer Suez/United Water was and still is, selling over 13 acres of undeveloped land to developers in New Milford's 100 year flood plain. Stop your overdevelopment projects Suez/United Water and all your double talk, since you are the main culprit in this whole flooding ordeal.
SOD!
Martha
12:01 pm on Friday, June 29, 2012
TO ALL THE WONDERFUL RESIDENTS OF NEW MILFORD, ORADELL, RIVER EDGE, HILLSDALE, WESTWOOD, DUMONT, BERGENFIELD, TEANECK, & EVERY SINGLE TOWN IN BERGEN COUNTY....THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT MEETING, & PLEASE, PLEASE CHANGE YOUR PLANS, IF POSSIBLE, TO BE THERE AT THE MEETING, & VOICE YOUR CONCERNS ABOUT FLOODING, & UNITED WATER! LET THEM KNOW WHAT A "BAD NEIGHBOR" UNITED WATER HAS BEEN THROUGH THE YEARS, & LET OUR COUNTY OFFICIALS KNOW THAT UNITED WATER HAS NEVER OFFERED US ONE CENT TO ASSIST US WHEN THE DAMS OVERFLOWED INTO OUR HOMES & BUSINESSES! THERE WILL BE FOLKS FROM OTHER TOWNS WHO HAVE SERIOUS CONCERNS ABOUT THE FLOODING ISSUE, & COLLECTIVELY, WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE IF THERE IS ENOUGH NOISE FROM EVERYONE!
Lori Barton
8:08 am on Saturday, June 30, 2012
Suez/United Water is the ultimate hypocrite. "Do as I say, not as I do." They tell us that overdevelopment of flood sensitive property is the reason we flood . They tell us to restore the natural flood plain. And then they sell a 13 acre of undeveloped flood sensitive property to the Hekemian Group to develop and cover with impervious coverings. And for those residents not in the path of flood waters: don't think this won't affect you, too. Any development to this property will change New Milford forever. Higher taxes, overcrowded schools, traffic nightmares, increased air, water and noise pollution will be the new norm. This meeting is important. New Milford needs a large showing. Join SOD. Contact us at SODNOW@yahoo.com if you need a ride. IT'S TIME TO TELL SUEZ/UNITED WATER WHAT BAD NEIGHBORS THEY HAVE BEEN.
Al Alonso
9:34 am on Saturday, June 30, 2012
The county should be asked to impose a moratorium on any further development along the Hackensack River until the flooding issue, and it causes, are fully discussed. Otherwise it's just another group of beurocrats engaging in a "lip service" session. Clearly overdevelopment is a contributing factor. What, if anything, will the county government do if they come to this realization? If nothing, don't waste our time with a meeting. If they are serious about addressing the problem they will have to curtail, prohibit, or strictly regulate future development along the river. This should start with the moratorium.