Plan to fight flooding off, critics say

Army's $52B measure for NJ, NY lacks 'collaborative approach'

By: Sammy Gibbons
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... A coalition of environmental experts and elected officials have join force to demand a more holistic flood protection pan for New York City and North Jersey than the 452 billion plan that the Army corps of Engineers have proposed so far.
..... A bipartisan group of 12 lawmakers from both states singed a letter arguing that the Army Corps plan focuses only on presenting storm surge, such as was caused by Superstorm Sandy, and not on how to address the chronic flooding the region now experiences because of sea level rise and more frequent intents rainstorms exacerbated by climate change.
..... New Jersey Representative Donald Payne Jr. signed the letter, along with a number of New York City representative,s including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Representative Alexandria Ocaasio-Cortez.
..... They say the corps proposals does not comply with the Water Resources Development Act, issued in 2020 and 2022. The act which Congress updates every two years, authorizes Army Corps flood and coastal storm risk management across the U.S.
..... The corps began creating plans to protect New York Harbor and North Jersey Meadowlands communities seven years ago. Its current ideas primarily suggest building storm surge barriers - structures in the water with gates that can close when a hurricane or large swell come sin.
..... A floodgate longer than five football fields would span the Hackensack River to present a tidal-surge from inundating Meadowlands communities. The 1,900-foot gate and a series of flood walls and berms along the Hackensack and Passaic rivers are part of the $52 billion proposal.
..... The Plan has also drawn criticism form environmental groups and local officials who say building hard infrastructure will just push a storm surge to other communities laing the river.
..... Congress has not yet allocated any funds to the project, which has been in the works for years. It calls for the states or local communities to pay for 35% of the overall cost. construction would begin in 2023 and end in 2044, according to the 569-page plan released a year ago. [2023]
..... The plan is a scaled-down version of a $119 billion option to build a 5-mile barrier between Sandy Hook and New York that was unveiled in 2018 and drew criticism from many, including then-President Donald Trump, who mocked it on Twitter.
..... The floodgate on the Hackensack would span Secaucus and Kearney from north to south at a sharp bend in the river, according to a map in the plan. It would protect Secacus, Kearny, Lyndhurst and other ares upriver, the report says. it would have a 100-foot-wide navigable passage.
..... The Army Corps of Engineers plan also calls for several shorelines barriers along the lower Hackensack and Passaic rivers in Bergen, Essex and Hudson counties
..... In New York, the plan also includes boodling movable sea gates across several waterways, including the Flushing and Newtown creeks, Jamaica Bay, the Gowanus Canal and the Arther kill and Kill Van Kull between Staten Island and New Jersey and New York have experienced severe impacts from flooding, including mass disruptions to public transit and destruction of property during major storms such as Ida.
..... Some areas, such as Hoboken have announce major projects in response that involve pump constitution and infrastructure updates to curb future flooring's worst outcomes.
..... Preservation experts believe the Army Corps plan's single-hazard approach is "shortsighted," lacks accurate science and contains outdated cost-benefit analyses.
..... Rising sea levels and rain-related flooding form more intense and frequents storms are causing the most suffering in region's communities said Hudson Riverkeeper President T Racy Brown. Riverkeeper protects the Hudson River and clean drinking water in New York.
..... "In a humane world, the plan isn't [to] wait until their's a disaster and there's a hole in the back of their house or they're underwater, but plan ahead," Brown said.
..... The corps "hasn't looked at the context ... that is critical for any kind of study and plan for dealing with flooding" by excluding rainfall, tidal flooding over time and sea level rise projects, agreed Kate Boicount, the director of the environmental Defense Fund's NY-NJ climate Resilient Coasts and water sheds program.
..... Biocount and Brown worry about the effects of corps' proposal could have on communities in the region. Public engagement in the planning process has been "insufficient," Boicout said, and lift out some key communities, particularity low-income areas.
..... Brown wants to see a "layered approach" that involves considering several strategies, starting with using nature and nature-based systems, such as "protecting living shorelines and the living river system" that "naturally break wave energy and provide extra flooding capacity in our communities."
..... The experts want to see a "more integrated and collaborative approach between the federal government and our local governments," Brown said.
..... Successful projects the experts cited include flood-able parks on the east side of Brooklyn and raised streets in some areas of New Jersey.
..... According to an Army Corps of Engineers update from September, [2023] the corps is reviewing public comments and considering how to move forward to complete its study. The agency decision Milestone that was expected this summer [2023] was delayed until late in the fall. [2023]

HOME