Flood-weary residents see relief in reservoirs
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
BY ANDREW KITCHENMAN

While residents and officials in towns along the Delaware River are grateful a severe flood didn't materialize last weekend, how New York reservoir levels should be managed to contain the flood threat remains a hotly debated topic.

The reservoirs are an important water source for New York City residents.

Many along the river, which flows through the Neversink, Pepacton and Cannonsville reservoirs, say water in the lakes should be lowered to create holding capacity for potential flood waters which flow into the Delaware.

However, officials who oversee the reservoirs say they are of limited use in controlling floods, and at this time of year they prefer not to release water that could offset drought problems in the summer.

Last weekend the rising Delaware River threatened river towns in Mercer and Bucks counties. Most towns escaped serious problems, but in Yardley, Pa., the portion of River Road named South Delaware Avenue was underwater on Sunday and Monday.

Borough Mayor Matthew Sinberg supports keeping the reservoirs 20 percent empty all of the time, to allow room for additional rain. Such a precaution, Sinberg said, would have been a comfort to Yardley residents, who have seen their homes and basements flooded repeatedly.

"It seems on the surface that the reservoirs could have the potential to hold back waters in times of flood," Sinberg said.

The issue has gained the attention of a few community groups who have pushed to keep empty space, or "voids," in the reservoirs after three major floods in September 2004, April 2005 and June 2006.Belvidere resident Elaine Reichart, a member of the group Aquatic Conservation Unlimited, said having a 20 percent void would have lightened residents' concerns last week. "It's a heck of a way to live," Reichart said of preparing for a flood every time one is forecast.

The amount of water released from the reservoirs is governed by a decree by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1954 to balance New York City's needs with those of its neighbors. The Delaware River Basin Commission, which has allocated the river basin's water for about 50 years, includes representatives of the federal government and the states of New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware.

DRBC spokesman Clarke Rupert said it would be simplistic to attribute Delaware River floods to the reservoirs being full, noting that all three reservoirs were full this weekend but the river didn't flood.

U.S. Geological Survey employee Gary N. Paulachok, who serves as the deputy Delaware River master and releases water from the reservoirs, said the reservoirs may actually slow the river because the water must flow through them before moving downriver.

"They do attenuate flow volume ... even if they're full," Paulachok said.

He made a very rough calculation that the spills from the reservoirs may have accounted for a half-foot of the 18.22-foot crest that the river reached at Trenton on Monday morning.

The DRBC has released more water -- thereby lowering water levels in the reservoirs -- at other times of the year under its new flexible flow management plan. Typically they don't try to lower reservoir levels at this time of year because the city is preparing for the summer, when the chance of drought is greater.

Delaware Riverkeeper Maya van Rossum, whose nonprofit organization works to protect the environment in and around the river, is opposed to both the flexible flow management plan and calls for a void in the reservoirs. She said the plan will lead to increasing the reservoirs' capacity, which she said wouldn't protect residents in the long term. She has called for buying properties in the flood plain and restoring the plant life along the river to lessen flood risk.

"We're paying one way or the other," van Rossum said of the cost of buying out property owners.

The DRBC will hold a meeting today at 1:30 p.m. at its office at 25 State Police Drive in Ewing. Issues related to the reservoirs are not on the agenda.


Contact Andrew Kitchenman at akitchenman@njtimes.com or (609) 989-5706.