FOUR STATES JOIN FORCES TO FIGHT FLOODING
ALONG DELAWARE RIVER
(06/52) TRENTON -- Department of Environmental Protection
Commissioner Lisa P. Jackson today announced that New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
New York and Delaware will form an interstate task force to develop
substantive recommendations for protecting residents’ lives
and property from disastrous flooding along the Delaware River
and its tributaries.
The four states, which also agreed to fund a $500,000 study to
determine the impact of reservoir operations on flood management,
will coordinate the regional flood-mitigation initiative through
the Delaware River Basin Commission.
"We won't ever stop floods from happening, but we can mitigate
their impact," Governor Jon S. Corzine said. "My administration
has already proposed new regulations that will have both immediate
and long-term impacts. We are now forming a regional task force,
working on a flood management operating plan for existing reservoirs
and moving forward in an expedient manner."
“Combining resources and coordinating action will strengthen
the policies and regulations New Jersey is already implementing
as well as those planned in the future to avert devastating flooding
in Delaware River communities,” Commissioner Jackson said. “Simply
put, we can do more working together to control flooding than each
state can do separately.”
The creation of the interstate task force comes less than a month
after Governor Corzine announced new flood-control regulations
that are among the nation’s strongest for imposing limitations
on development in a flood plain and providing stream-corridor protections.
In June, Delaware River flooding devastated several New Jersey
communities for the fourth time in fewer than two years.
DRBC staff will provide technical expertise and coordinate the
interstate task force’s efforts to develop a set of measures
for mitigating flooding and minimizing flood losses basin-wide.
Those measures will include a basin-wide flood-management operating
plan for existing reservoirs throughout the river basin, which
will complement the DRBC’s drought management plan.
To ensure the interstate task force’s recommended flood-control
measures are based on solid scientific information, the DRBC will
guide the development of a flood-analysis model for the Delaware
River Basin to evaluate how reservoir voids can alleviate the impact
of flooding along the river.
The task force will present its preliminary recommendations to
Governor Corzine, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, New York Gov. George
Pataki and Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner by the end of the year.
A copy of the governors' letter is attached.
For more information on flood mitigation in New Jersey, visit
www.njflood.org.
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