WESTWOOD—A study announced with fanfare in August that will examine rainfall patterns in Pascack Valley and gather storm data to help customize a computer model that will allow operators of Woodcliff Lake Reservoir to maximize water storage and minimize downstream flooding should begin sometime this fall, said local officials.
The study should take 12 months to complete once begun, said Mayor Ray Arroyo.
“Once the disbursement mechanism is put in place by the state to fund the study, the project can begin. We’re still waiting on the final details of that process,” Arroyo told Pascack Press on Sept. 26.
On Aug. 3, before nearly 100 residents and nearby local officials, Arroyo was joined by State Sen. Holly Schepisi and Marouane Temimi, associate professor, department of civil, environmental and ocean engineering, to announce that Westwood would be receiving a $200,000 state grant to collaborate with Stevens Institute to gather data and customize a watershed computer model called FIRO — Forecast-Informed Reservoir Operations—for the Pascack Valley.
Veolia North America, which operates the Woodcliff Lake Reservoir and Oradell Reservoir, told Pascack Press through communications director Debra Vial on Sept. 27, “We look forward to seeing the results of this study. As always, we are here to serve our communities. We take our job of providing safe drinking water seriously and we work hard 24/7 to ensure our dams, treatment plants and distribution systems are performing safely and properly. We are dedicated to meeting the drinking water needs of the region and protecting the health of nearly 900,000 residents in this system.”
The model could be used to demonstrate how water levels in Woodcliff Lake Reservoir could be optimized and also water released to minimize downstream flooding during severe and intense storms, officials said at the August meeting.
Arroyo told Pascack Press that “Stevens personnel, led by Professor Temimi, will gather data, analyze it, produce a draft document that will be further reviewed, and ultimately produce a final document to be shared.”
Arroyo said the study should include:
- Months 1–3: literature review, data gathering, and characterization of existing infrastructure;
- Months 4–6: Building and calibrating hydrologic and hydraulic models;
- Months 7–9: Testing forecast informed reservoir management scenarios;
- Months 10–12: Writing reports and summarizing project outcome
“I don’t anticipate there being much to say until the draft document is prepared,” the mayor said.
August Study Announcement
At the August event, Schepisi said the FIRO study should provide the tool for reservoir operators to raise and lower water reservoir levels “proactively” before a storm hits to help mitigate downstream flooding while maintaining optimum reservoir levels for water supply purposes.
She said she would be holding a meeting soon with representatives from the Governor’s office, state Department of Environmental Protection, and local mayors to talk more about the Stevens Institute of Technology study and FIRO computer model’s future use.
Arroyo said once the Stevens Institute’s FIRO computer model study is completed, “this will provide the science to show that you’re not losing the asset (water supply) and also at the same time we’re not going to get flooded.”
He said when completed, the FIRO computer model should reduce occurrences of so-called “nuisance flooding” that has been occurring in towns after even small rain storms, where a half inch or inch of rain falls over a short period, as well as mitigate flooding from more severe storms. He said it was not likely to reduce all flooding events.
Schepisi urged residents to contact their legislators to support S-790/A-4200, bipartisan bills that impose flood mitigation protocols on NJ’s private water providers by requiring reservoir operators to mitigate downstream flooding impacts. So far, neither bill has been moved for a vote.
Arroyo said the planned FIRO study should provide the scientific support to move state legislation such as S-790/A-4200, and show that reservoir owners/operators can maintain maximum water supplies while also mitigating downstream flooding by using a computer model with highly sophisticated weather modeling and prediction capabilities.
Temimi said the FIRO model was currently being used in California and nearby New York State. He said inputting the watershed’s information should help to “customize” the FIRO model for use in the Pascack Valley drainage basin.