Town Applying for Grant to De-Snag Local Rivers

The town council is joining with local municipalities to clean up nearby rivers in the Passaic River Basin.

The council unanimously approved a resolution Oct. 19 authorizing the township to enter into a grant agreement with Pequannock, Pompton Lakes, and Riverdale to de-snag and clean portions of the Pequannock, Pompton, and Ramapo Rivers.

The ordinance authorizes the town to apply for a $353,000 grant for the project.

Local officials, such as Councilman Alan Purcell, have recently stepped up their efforts to find a permanent solution to flooding, which has increased in severity and frequency in recent years.

“It’s something that’s going to get the water moving down stream more quickly,” Purcell said.

Purcell represents Wayne’s 1st Ward, often the most flooded area in the township.

“I’d really like to see dredging occur because that is what’s going to help the most,” Purcell said.

In a report to Governor Christie issued in January, the Passaic River Basin Flood Advisory Committee recommended that removing “flow constrictors, such as fallen trees and sediment shoals, may provide reductions in floodwater elevations by facilitating river flow” in the basin. The committee recommended that dredging rivers in the basin should be “routine,” especially at bridges and culverts.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, several residents affected by the floods complained that it has been years since local rivers, especially the Pompton, had been de-snagged or dredged.

Sandy Galacio, director of the township’s office of emergency management and homeland security, said that de-snagging the rivers would have a positive impact on the water flow in the basin.

“The de-snagging of tree limbs and other debris does contribute to letting the water flow more freely,” Galacio said. “It’s not a gigantic impact, it’s a small impact, but it’s a positive thing. The most quickly the water can move through the area, the more water the river system can hold.”

Purcell said de-snagging is not a permanent solution to the problem, but it’s a start.

“This isn’t just a Wayne problem. It’s a problem for the entire basin and we need to continue to have federal legislators push for a permanent solution,” Purcell said. “For a better short-term solution, I’d like to see dredging occur. The rivers have to be made deeper and straightened out. The water needs another place to go.”

Col. John Boule II said in September that finding a permanent solution to alleviating flooding in the basin would take time and teamwork between local, state, and federal governmental agencies.

Boule said that there is not one thing that can be done to drastically improve flooding conditions in the area, but a combination of river remediation work and property buyouts would help to permanently alleviate flooding in the basin.

“It’s not just a levy or a floodwall,” Boule said. “You’ve got to figure out what zoning makes sense, you may have to buy out people and you may have to move businesses; you have to look at it comprehensively.”