WEST NYACK – With every new flood season in Rockland County, local lawmakers and flood-control advocates have been reminded that they’ve been trying for years to create a new organization that could help tackle longterm flooding problems that have plagued generations of residents and businesses in southern Rockland and northern New Jersey.
This year, advocates for the the Rockland-Bergen Flood Mitigation Task Force have new hope.
Tucked within the pages of New York State’s new budget is funding to create the task force so that it can lead discussions on resolving flooding issues that continue to plague communities such as West Nyack and Suffern.
“Flood mitigation policies need to be addressed on a regional basis,” said Assemblyman Kenneth Zebrowski, D-New City. “If we are going to address the flooding issues of Rockland residents we need to ensure that both states and all municipalities are working together. Hurricane Sandy presented us with a perfect example of how regional coordination could have benefited Rockland residents. I worked with the DEC in the lead-up to the storm to lower the levels of Lake Deforest through strategic releases to prevent flooding. Unfortunately, our efforts lasted only a few hours as the downstream reservoirs in New Jersey were filled to capacity. A collaborative effort between the two States could have coordinated releases in the region to prepare for the storm and prevent flooding. This task force will provide a mechanism for that collaboration.”
The fate of the proposed task force had been uncertain because Gov. Andrew Cuomo in December vetoed a bill that would have authorized New York work with New Jersey to create the new task force. Gov. Chris Christie has already approved New Jersey joining the effort. Cuomo killed the bill based on concerns of state officials that there was no funding allocated for the task force.
Since the task force would be made up of volunteers, Zebrowski, at the time, said the group could be created right away. He and state Sen. David Carlucci, D-New City, and Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee, D-Suffern, pushed for the task force to be included in the new budget so the group could be created.”Residents who suffer from chronic flooding to their homes will finally receive real results,” Carlucci said. “Flood waters are blind to political and state boundaries which is why my colleagues and I made sure to provide funding for the Rockland Bergen Flood Mitigation Task Force in the State Budget. This task force, with critical funding to back it up, will work to protect flood prone homeowners on the border of New York and New Jersey.”
Zebrowski, Carlucci and Jaffee met on Wednesday with Suffern Mayor Trish Abato and New Jersey legislators, Assemblyman Eustace and Assemblywoman Schepisi, to celebrate the state’s backing for New York’s part of the task force.
The Task Force will be comprised of volunteers from Rockland and Bergen who will collaborate with municipalities within the bi-state region to develop a comprehensive long term plan to tackle flooding.
“The task force will provide a more formal structure, which will enhance the ability of the community to work together to respond more effectively to the environmental conditions and chronic flooding that has plagued residents of both New York and New Jersey for far too long,” said Jaffee.Clarkstown town Supervisor Alex Gromack said the new task force will help improve the quality of life of residents who live in the area of the major tributaries and watersheds in Rockland and in northern New Jersey. In Rockland, the Hackensack and Ramapo rivers – and the streams that feed them – have presented problems for communities along their banks for years, especially as once rural sections of the county were covered by suburban sprawl.
Zebrowski said he first began work on the legislation to allow New York to join the bi-state task force with the late state Sen. Thomas Morahan, and then continued working on it when Carlucci was elected to take the Senate seat left vacant by Morahan’s death.
