Flood Mitigation Plan Moves Forward

Last week, the Mayors Council Rahway River Watershed Flood Control agreed on a flood mitigation plan to present to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which includes modifications to the South Mountain Regional Detention Dam size and channel improvements in and around Cranford. 

The plan also suggests continuing the road through the area of the South Mountain Detention Dam, as well as recreational improvements there. The Mayors Council also cites in their plan to move the project closer to Campbell's Mill Pond.

“The South Mountain Detention Dam would lower river elevations by almost three feet in Millburn, Springfield and Union and benefit Maplewood on the east branch of the Rahway River lowering elevations there and providing a lower level in Cranford, Kenilworth and Rahway,” the Mayors Council stated in a release. “For Cranford and Rahway the upstream flood water storage during peak storm events would allow local projects such as channel improvements and other storage projects to proceed. In Cranford the lower elevation is estimated at more than 4 feet.”

In September, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the State DEP are expected to publicly present the Mayors Council alternative plan along with six others in order to maximize flood control solutions, according to Dan Aschenbach of the Mayors Council.

New Jersey DEP Commissioner Bob Martin has said that the state will fund selected evaluations to speed up the process in order to decide on a final plan, the release said.

The council expressed that they have been working hard to refine the plan, reduce costs and accelerate the process.