WESTWOOD—A Stevens Institute of Technology professor will soon begin a comprehensive study of rainfall patterns and flooding in the Pascack Valley in an effort to customize a computer model that enables reservoir operators to adjust water levels based on anticipated storm intensity and mitigate downstream flooding impacts.
Before nearly 90 attendees at an Aug. 3 meeting at Westwood Community Center, State Sen. Holly Schepisi (R-River Vale) said she was able to obtain a $200,000 state budget appropriation in the new state budget, with support from Pascack Valley’s mayors, to conduct the study.
The grant will go to and be managed by Westwood, which will coordinate with Stevens Institute of Technology on the study, and work with local mayors.
Schepisi said the state would not help towns mitigate flooding concerns without such a study
Veolia North America, which manages four reservoirs that supply 800,000 customers in Bergen and Hudson counties, and the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) have maintained that by law the reservoir operators are mandated to conserve water supply and are not required to mitigate downstream flooding impacts.
Schepisi said the DEP has consistently maintained that flooding is due to local development, lack of stormwater management, and recommends those impacted sell their homes via state buyout programs such as Blue Acres, where available.
However, Schepisi said, most residents do not want to sell their homes, but want answers to flooding concerns that have grown worse with more intense and severe storms.
“Without us providing that feasibility study that the state that has a $60 billion budget couldn’t be bothered to do themselves, we will never be able to get relief,” Schepisi said.
Schepisi said the computer model, called Forecast-Informed Reservoir Operations, or FIRO, 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 use.
Mayor Raymond Arroyo said that four towns are now moving toward undertaking drone studies of brooks affected by flooding, noting Westwood and River Vale drone studies were approved and planned for this fall,
He said Hillsdale is considering a study, and the Township of Washington completed the first drone study earlier this year of Musquapsink Brook.
Veolia North America has offered to reimburse 30% of the towns’ costs for undertaking such studies moving forward, Arroyo said. Drone study costs were previously estimated around $12,000. Boswell Engineering conducted the Washington Township drone study.
Arroyo said once the 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 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, complimentary, bipartisan bills that she said require more support. The legislation imposes flood mitigation protocols on New Jersey’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 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.
Associate professor Marouane Temimi of the Department of Civil, Environmental and Ocean Engineering at Stevens Institute, Hoboken, said the FIRO model was being used in California and 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.
Arroyo said the drone studies from four contiguous Pascack Valley towns, together with the FIRO study and computer model, should enable a comprehensive basin-wide flood mitigation plan to take shape that should help the region secure future state and federal grants to undertake identified brook restoration and flood control strategies.
Resident Tom Bisdale, a member of New Jersey Flood Solution Advocates, said he had started a petition, Change.org/DemandFloodControl, with 916 signatures as of Aug. 4, for Pascack Valley residents to endorse state legislation introduced by Schepisi and Assemblyman Robert Auth to maintain specific reservoir levels in winter and summer to reduce downstream flooding.
Bisdale’s petition notes, “For decades, residents and businesses in flood prone areas in and around Westwood and Hillsdale have repeatedly suffered serious damages from an ever increasing number of severe rain storms. Some are known as named storms such as Floyd, Sandy, Irene and Ida. There have also been many more unnamed storms which nonetheless threaten and flood as many as 800 properties in Westwood and Hillsdale alone, each time causing multiple thousand of dollars in damages to each property, not to mention the municipal costs of emergency responses borne by all taxpayers.”
Bisdale’s says, “A significant amount of this suffering could be avoided if the water company, now Veolia, would mitigate flooding by managing the water levels in its reservoirs, particularly Woodcliff Lake and Oradell (reservoirs).”
He adds, “For over 25 years, the water company has refused to do so claiming its sole responsibility is to maintain water supply and not flood control and it would continue unless otherwise ordered by the government. S-790 and A-4200 currently pending before the legislature would order the water company to implement flood control measures. Lowering the level of the Woodcliff Lake Reservoir to 91 feet year-round would reduce the frequency of floods from storms with no name.”
According to Sonoma Water, a Santa Rosa Calif., water utility that uses FIRO, it notes, Forecast Informed Reservoir Operations (FIRO) is a flexible water management approach that uses data from watershed monitoring and improved weather forecasting to help water managers selectively retain or release water from reservoirs for increased resilience to droughts and floods. FIRO applies emerging science and technology to optimize water resources and adapt to climate change without costly infrastructure.”
We reached out to Veolia North America for comment on this story, and will update this as circumstances warrant.