5/12/08 Chuck Schroeder letter.
Watered-down flood protection

On April 2, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell sent a letter to the members of the Delaware River Basin Commission requesting that the reservoirs managed by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection be lowered.

He wanted to give the people who live below the reservoirs some protection against flooding. This showed the governor's concern and made the point that full reservoirs are dangerous when they stand in the path of incoming rains.

The agreement that was even tually reached did little to provide flood protection. The NYCDEP fought his suggestions and ultimately won a watered-down ver sion of his original request.

The agreement allowed the NYCDEP to average the contents of three reservoirs vs. drawing down all three. This resulted in a lowering of the smallest of the three reservoirs, so that its percentage of capacity could be played off against the other two huge reservoirs, keeping them as close to 100 percent full as possible.

The agreement lasted only two weeks, giving the governor's flood protection plan a very short shelf life.
Worst of all, the agreement did nothing to provide flood protection.

Today, the reservoirs are near 100 percent again. We're just waiting for the next big storm. We're praying that Gov. Rendell, or somebody in power, will step up and force New York's DEP to show some caring for the public safety.

-- CHUCK SCHROEDER, Eng lewood