This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Politics & Government

Environmental Expert Offers Flood Prevention Advice

Town's environmental advisory committee suggests leaders do their homework before the next disaster hits.

Parsippany's Environmental Advisory Committee recommends that town leaders work with the local water supplier to be better prepared the next time a hurricane comes to the area. That was the gist of a special presentation given at Tuesday night’s council meeting at Town Hall.

Lake Hiawatha resident Laura McCluskey, an EAC member and a 25-year environmental science and education teacher who currently works at Parsippany Hills High School, provided suggestions as to how the township and surrounding communites can avoid the catastrophic flooding seen during August’s Hurricane Irene in the future.

First among the EAC’s suggestions was to make sure that all residents receive 911 calls that are consistent in number and content in the event of a natural disaster.

Find out what's happening in Parsippanywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

McCluskey noted that during Irene, a call from Parsippany Police ordering an evacuation reached some residents and left a number of them feeling unsure. Many took the message to mean that Jersey City's United Water, which provides water for the township, would release water from the nearby reservoir dam that retains the waters of the Rockaway River.

Mayor James Barberio tried to set the record straight regarding the Aug. 28 reverse 911 call, saying that the evacuation was ordered to minimize damage in the event of an overspill.

Find out what's happening in Parsippanywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“United Water did not say they were releasing water,” Barberio said. “They have six [flood stage] levels, and when they hit level six, by New Jersey dam safety rules, they have to notify surrounding towns that there might be an overspill.”

Some residents, however, remained skeptical of that notion.

“The phone rang with ‘We are releasing the reservoir, evacuate your home.’ I knew, right then and there. I went down and sat at the top of the steps of my basement,” said Sylvia Shulin, whose home is on Ferndale Drive in Lake Hiawatha.

“One hour later, there was six feet of water in my basement. The only reason it didn’t go beyond my basement into the foyer on the first floor was because I had two pumps going.”

United Water has also come under fire from community members for not lowering the water levels of nearby reservoirs more significantly prior to the storm, which could have prevented the flooding caused by Irene from being as widespread as it turned out to be. On the night of the storm, the reservoir’s water levels were measured at 100 percent capacity.

“Unfortunately, water is a product for this organization and it is a commodity. They made a decision to lower the reservoir according to the state requirements, but they were not proactive in lowering the reservoir weeks before [the storm],” McCluskey said, adding that the the reservoirs water levels "should have gone down to about 85 percent capacity."

"If they had, maybe a lot less water would have flooded Lake Hiawatha.”

In light of this, McCluskey suggested that the EAC, the township and the water company all work together to come up with a comprehensive, communicable plan for Parsippany residents and those in surrounding communities.

“The Environmental Committee is asking the township council to engage in dialogue more directly with United Water and to create a plan for future scenarios that may occur so we are ready, and frankly, so there’s no miscommunication,” she said. “We’re all in this together and we do want to work together. I think opening up a little more communication and making sure everybody’s on board with that [would be a good thing].”

McCluskey also suggested that town leaders re-evaluate the Rockaway River and its many tributaries so it can better anticipate and prepare for a natural disaster well in advance of the storm.

“We’re going to ask the township to ask its engineer to re-study tributaries, where rivers run, where rivers go to and to look what downstream towns are doing to keep waterways clean,” McCluskey said.

Additionally, an inspection of the Lake Hiawatha retaining wall that holds back the waters of the Rockaway River may be necessary, she said. Although McCluskey noted that the retaining wall proved itself durable during Irene, a pre-emptive inspection could benefit residents who continue to rely on the wall to prevent flooding.

“It’s unlikely that a storm like this would ever occur in the near future," McCluskey said, [but] "I think a study of retaining wall’s durability would be included in that down the road."

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?