AS THE RIVER FLOWS...

This is your page to express your views on whatever is pertinent to our cause. Send a brief letter regarding your ideas, complaints, praise, recommendations or whatever. Maybe we can establish a pattern and attack it together. Maybe a reader with a similar experience will offer assistance. Send data via e-mail. Use a word processing program, attach it to the e-mail. Send it to webeditor@drconline.org. I will display what I think is pertinent on the website for a period of time. Please include contact information such as e-mail address or phone number.

07/02/09 - What if...

06/20/09 - Set up for flooding

04/12/09 - Thanks for a great site - Alfred J. Kauth

03/05/09 - Power in Numbers, Loretta Kratz

02/24/09 - Kramer Letter

01/21/09 -Hill Obama Letter

01/17/09 -Hill Letter

12/29/09 -Elaine Reichart Aquatic Conservation Unlimited

11/14/08 - Letter from Joan Homovich to NY DEC on Reservoirs

05/12/08 - Chuck Schroeder letter - Watered-down flood protection

05/10/08 -  Val's Thoughts

05/02/08 - Richard Green PhD speaks

05/02/08 - Another Response to the NYC DEP

05/02/08 - NYC DEP Position

04/10/08 - Dallas Answer

04/10/08 - Carver Letter

04/10/08 - Rendell needs to get rid of Myers

04/09/08 - Tame the Delaware

04/09/08 - Flood victims don't celebrate yet!

04/06/08- Rich Green letter

04/02/08 - Goodwill or Good PR? Governor Rendell's call for NYC Reservoir Releases

03/30/08 - Rendell Abandons Area Flood Victims

03/27/08 - Response to Rendell

03/23/08 - Caccavella letter to inquirer

03/12/08 - Blind Faith

03/11/08 - Aquatic Conservation Unlimited - Response to Mark Mauriello

03/05/08 - Email from Mark Mauriello, Assistant Commissioner for Land Use Management at NJDEP and as DRBC Commissioner - RE: Bureaucrats spitting on us!

03/05/08 - Blind Government, D. Jengo

03/05/08 - City Officers MUST react to FFMP, J. Carver.

03/04/08 - Hoarding Water, Richard Green

03/04/08 - Letter to PA and NJ Representatives

02/26/08 - Informational Workshops

02/26/08 - Hold a set of Public Hearings, one in each section of the River and again, on Saturdays.

02/26/08 - NYC Must Maintain the Supreme Court Decree Obligation of maintaining the Montague and Trenton Target River Flows.

02/26/08 - FFMP Comments - A full, NYC WATER SYSTEM WIDE - Re-Assessment, based on usage, not perceived need, must be undertaken.

02/26/08 - Safety Voids of 20% need to be part of Delaware River Reservoir Operating Policy.

02/26/08 -NYC must optimize its entire Water Supply in order to compute a fair, safe, and equitable release schedule.

02/26/08 - Reject the request for Additional Storage

02/25/08 - Danger Lurks in Full Reservoirs, by Nancy Shappell

02/21/08 - Plan needs seven steps to ease flooding

02/21/08 - Rely on Luck to Prevent Flooding?

02/20/08 - PEOPLE LIVING ON DE RIVER MAY BE IN SERIOUS JEOPARDY - Closure of Aqueduct

02/13/08 - The Next Delaware River Flood

02/13/08 - Letter to the Editor - Management of the Delaware River and River Flooding

02/06/08- River Letter

01/31/08 - Letter - Fix the Flooding First

12/24/07 - FLOOD WEARY: WILLIAMS TOWNSHIP PUTTING FLOOD VICTIM AT FURTHER RISK!

12/24/07 - FLOOD WEARY: LETTER TO EDITOR, Express-Times

10/08/07 - Val Sigstedt Letter to members of the House of Representatives - Click Here

10/05/07 - Void Would Work - M. Doyle, Riegelsville, PA - Click Here

09/26/07 - LETTER FROM DRC PRESIDENT, DINAH RUSH. Comment to the DRBC on the Sept. 26th Hearing

5/14/07 - Ray Williams Letter to Representative Maurice Hinchey - Click Here

4/20/07 - Sharron Dallas Letter to Senator Lance - Click Here

4/18/07 - DRBC Mismanagement Adds To Delaware Floods - Click Here
Morning Call, by James Davis, Lower Mt. Bethel

4/17/07 Elaine O'Neil response to UDC  Click Here

4/5/07 - Resevoir Levels Critical To Dealing With Flooding - Charles McIntyre  Click Here

4/2/07 -  NEGLIGENCE • MISMANAGEMENT • ARROGANCE • GREED  By Elaine O'Neil  Click Here

4/1/07 - Don't Sit Back and Let Another Flood Happen - Sharon Dallas Click Here

4/1/07 - Received from Peder Hansen, Upper Delaware  Click here to Read

4/1/07 - Bea Briggs letter and Jim Cawley response.  Click Here to Read

3/31/07 - Deluge Just Waiting To Happen  Click Here to Read
Easton Express - Letter to the Editor by Bea Briggs, Upper Black Eddy

3/29/07 - Delaware River Towns at High Risk Right Now.  Flood may be immanent depending on the weather.  By Chris D'Annunzio  Click Here to Read

3/27/07 - Comments for Public Meeting -Diane Tharp  Click Here to Read

3/14/07 - River Agency Must Move To Protect Us From Floods
Easton Express - Letter to the Editor by Angela Hart, Portland, PA CLICK HERE TO READ LETTER

2/28/07 - Keeping Up the Pressure - letter from Don Jengo to the politicians
As a resident of Lower Mt Bethel in Northampton County, I am disappointed that our elected leaders are not in the forefront of preventing future flooding in Pennsylvania.   The continual maintenance of the New York
Reservoirs at 100% or more constitutes a complete disregard for the safety of residents in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania who have been flooded three times in the past two years.  Flooding has only occurred when the reservoirs are at or over 100% capacity. CLICK HERE TO READ ENTIRE LETTER

2/27/07 - LETTERS TO THE EDITOR - EXPRESS TIMES Reservoir release added to flooding
I am 89 years old and I live right along the Delaware River in Riverton, Pa. During the "Freedom Flood"-- as my family calls it -- in late June 2006, I was forced to evacuate my home and leave the river for the third time in 18 months due to the rapidly rising floodwaters.  I left my home and belongings and went to stay with my daughter at her summer cottage at Lake Wallenpaupack. While I was very anxiously awaiting word on the condition of the river at Riverton and wondering if my home was still intact, I went for a boat ride on Lake Wallenpaupack. Imagine my horror at seeing Lake Wallenpaupack releasing thousands upon thousands of gallons of water right before my eyes that I knew would eventually end up in the Delaware River and thinking that this water may just be the straw that broke the camel's back and take my home away. To me this looked just like Niagara Falls. I could not imagine this happening at the time I knew to be the height of the flood. My question to those who can help alleviate this problem is: How could this water not have a huge effect on the rising Delaware River? The reservoirs have been at or near 100 percent in recent months. It is time to stop this so that we do not have to live with the fear of another manmade flood on top of Mother Nature.
Jo Hall - Lower Mount Bethel Township

2/13/07 - Flood Mitigation- Delaware Watershed, Easton, PA
My name is Philip Chase. I live in Port Jervis, NY on the banks of the Neversink and Delaware rivers. I have been involved with the NYC reservoir releases since the early 1960s: I represented NYS as a VP on the Save The Delaware Coalition which fought the damming of the Delaware River at Tocks Island. In the mid 70s I was on Governor Carey's Reservoir Release Committee which worked with NYC engineers. I was also a director of the Catskill Rivers Coalition which got NYS legislation passed in 1976, taking control away from NYC which owned the reservoirs of Cannonsville, Pepacton and Neversink, and placing the management of the reservoirs into the hands of the NYSDEC. In four years the control was lost to the power of the 800# gorilla- NYC.  CLICK HERE TO READ FULL ARTICLE.

2/6/07 -  All Reservoirs Aren’tThe Same (Reprint from the Daily Star, NY)
Spilling again! No surprise. The Jan. 20 article on the New York City Department of Environmental Protection reservoirs was interesting. Resolution 18 is an attempt in the right direction but with numbers inadequate to afford flood mitigation. The numbers are safe for preserving New York City’s water supply. The data show that the numbers work for Neversink. The numbers need to be modified for Cannonsville and Pepacton. To lower the reservoirs at any speed, there needs to be releases plus shipments to New York City. Neversink never overflowed because water was shipped to the city. It took seven days to lower Cannonsville a foot, and four days to lower Pepacton a foot, with diversions and releases. The numbers need to be modified and adjusted. I suggest L1 levels for the two largest be lowered to 92 percent and see what happens. The figures should not be kept at the current level since they are not working. Only one system can be lowered dramatically at once. With each system unique in mechanics and watershed, the reservoirs cannot be treated as one. There has to be built-in flexibility, not a one-idea-fits-all situation. Without some modification and adjustment now, how will you know what plan will work, since this one is NOT! I direct readers to the Delaware River Basin Commission website for Resolution 2006-18: www.state.nj.us/drbc.
Joan Homovich, Downsville

1/20/07 -  Hollow N.Y. Promise Too Late To Help Him (as appeared in Express Times)
I’m writing to thank the people who have helped me try to regain my life.I have survived three floods, a house foundation collapse and being sucked into a vortex sink hole as my basement floor exploded. I was sure I was going to die as the suction drew me below the surface. Only by my own will and God’s grace did I survive. I think of all I’ve been through. I hear New York say they’re not going to release water from the reservoirs to alleviate the floods. I suppose they think they’re helping me with a failed mitigation attempt to lower the reservoirs to 80 per cent full combined between the three. The reservoirs today are more than 98 percent full combined. Maybe if they spill 82 billion gallons of water into the river they think they’re helping me, too. The Delaware River Basin Commission has internal corruption and nepotism to the “liquid gold” New York is banking in the reservoirs. I would not be surprised if DRBC is funded in some fashion by the sale of New York water. James G. Reuss, Forks Township

1/20/07 - Lower The Reservoirs To Stop The Flooding. (appeared in Express Times)
Everyone knows the Delaware River had three major floods in an 18 month period. Sometime in 2001 or 2002 the NYC Reservoirs and Lake Wallenpaupac were allowed by the Delaware River Basin Commission to hold back more water.   Each time the Delaware flooded the NYC reservoirs and LakeWallenpaupac were above or at capacity before the rain event started. The reservoirs started spilling and releasing billions of gallons of water into the Delaware River basin which caused major flooding. In October 2005 the Delaware River Basin had a record 11 inches of rain. There were no major floods because the reservoirs, including Lake Wallenpaupac, were well below their capacity and did not spill or release any water during this rain event. To most people, this is an example of common sense, but yet the politicians still refuse to see why. There are facts and figures from the river master available. the Delaware Riverside Conservancy has a presentation they are willing to show which contains this information. I am asking the politicians to open their eyes and lower the reservoirs to stop unnecessary flooding. The reservoirs as of this writing are again at capacity
Tom Shappell, Member of the Delaware Riverside Con. Inc., Lower Mt. Bethel Township

1/18/07 -  Fix Flood Problem Before It's Too Late
As thousands of river lovers are aware, the Delaware River recently had three major floods in a period of less than two years. All river rats know that flood plains will flood. However, it is urgent that these same flood victims be heard when they have the facts concerning the part the reservoirs upstream have played in these disasters. Arlene Tishuk, Riverton  Click here to read full article online

1/8/07 - Coping with Flooding - An Easton woman shares her experiences and tips
When Lynne and Michael Reismeier bought their home on the Delaware River in Easton in 1995, they knew they were in a flood zone. Because the house was on high ground and no major flood had occurred since the “Great Flood” of 1955, they weren’t too worried. “We were captivated by the wonderful view,” Lynne Reismeier says, “and we looked forward to boating on the river.”  Click here to read full article online
Click here to download pdf of story

12/3/006 - Submitted from Sue Adipietro:  Here is some data regarding FEMA buyouts.
FEMA via Senator Menendez has informed me that there are two new programs, which do not require a local mitigation plan - the Repetitive Flood Claims (RFC) Program and the Severe Repetitive Loss (SRL) Program.
For anyone requesting a FEMA buyout, which I originally did only to find out I was not eligible because of not
having a local mitigation plan, the RFC will pay 100% of pre-flood assessment. I contacted the State Hazard Mitigation Officer, SFC Paul Miller, and since the Frenchtown Mayor is not able to sponsor me, he suggested that another agency needs to act as a sub-applicant for me or anyone else who is interested in the RFC, which again is for acquisition only. I have already written a letter to Rush Holt requesting help with this situation that I will present to his aide at the meeting. I'm sure with all of the people present, I will not get
to address these programs specifically.

I have no idea if anyone other than myself has requested a FEMA buyout or is interested in one. If anyone has any questions or wants to let me know that they are interested in a buyout, please contact me at my email and I will compile a list to submit to SFC Paul Miller. Thanks for your help.
Sue Adipietro   redlibra@earthlink.net