Officials: Cooperation Between Agencies is Key to Alleviating Flooding in the Passaic River Basin

The same amount of flooding would occur downstream if the Pompton River dam did not exist.

That is what U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Col. John Boule II said today at a briefing with Sens. Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg. The three toured the flood-ravaged Passaic River Basin in helicopters Thursday afternoon.

Wayne residents who live below the dam said the frequency of flooding occurrences has increased since the dam and floodgates became operational in 2007. The Corps oversees the operation of the floodgates, which are controlled via a computer program. The gates automatically open when the level of the water behind the dam reaches a certain point.

“What our agency is saying, and we’ve studied it over and over again, is what would happen if the dam wasn’t there compared to what would happen with the dam there,” Boule said. “With the gates open, you get the same level of flooding downstream.”

Boule said that when people are struggling with something as severe as this most recent flood event, they like to point fingers and assign blame.

“They see this big dam in front of them and they say ‘it must be the gates’,” Boule said.

Residents have said that the dam only prevents flooding from occurring in Oakland and Mahwah, which are located upstream. The parts of Wayne below the dam are only a small part of the entire Passaic River Flood Basin. The potential impact to the entire Basin was thought about and considered when the dam was constructed.

“You have to consider both upstream and downstream effects when you build a project because you have a vested interest not to increase your vulnerability [to floodwaters],” Boule said. “We’re trying to do that, but we’re trying to look at the whole basin.”

Governor Chris Christie authorized opening the floodgates for nine hours Aug. 26, more than a day before Hurricane Irene arrived in North Jersey. Despite three feet of water draining out, low-lying portions of the township experienced flooding worst than the historic 1984 flood.

Boule said that the Army Corps need to work together with state and local governments to “get the residual risk to the public as low as we can get it.”

Installing levees and floodwalls may be part of a large, over-arching plan for the Basin.

“We’ve got to work as an inter-governmental team,” Boule said. “It’s not just a levy or a floodwall. 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.” 

The Passaic River Flood Advisory Committee released a  to minimize flooding along the Passaic River Basin in February. 

Governor Chris Christie commissioned a study last spring to conclusively determine whether or not the current operation of the dam is contributing to or worsening flooding in communities downstream. The study will be complete Feb. 1.

The township is in the process of buying out homes in the flood-ravaged Hoffman-Grove section of town.