Army Corps of Engineers Gives Update on Flood Prevention Study

The Army Corp of Engineers provided an update on their evaluation of the Rahway watershed at a Township Committee Special Workshop Meeting Thursday night. The study’s aim is to reduce flooding in Cranford and Kenilworth by examining the Rahway River and its tributaries. A number of Flood Advisory Committee members and residents were present.

The Army Corps’ goal is to determine an ideal plan to prevent flooding in the township that is favorable, environmentally sound and cost effective. To find this, the Army Corps evaluates a number of alternatives in order to find the plan that reaps the most benefits for Cranford while minimizing damage to the surrounding areas.

“The study area is the entire Rahway watershed. We’re focusing on those solutions that would solve the flood problems in the damage center of Cranford,” Jody McDonald, an Army Corps representative, said. “The solution may not be in Cranford; it may be outside of Cranford. We know that the vast majority of damages occur here.”

In addition, the Army Corps takes into consideration the financial and aesthetic needs of the town. They do not move forward with a plan without full township approval.

“We try to have a collaborative process,” McDonald added. “We present what our preliminary alternatives are, what preliminary costs are, what it looks like the benefits would be from an economic standpoint. Everything the Corps of Engineers does has to be economically justified.”

The Army Corps began to study the Rahway River basin in 2002. Last week, the group received $350,000 to fund the project, which will be matched by the state. The $700,000 should put the Army Corps through the full-improved conditions, including evaluations and environmental assessments. By the end of next year, the Army Corps hopes to know how much each alternative costs, what benefits each alternative possesses, and which alternative has the most net benefits. In addition, they plan to have all plans for improved hydraulics by the end of next year.

“Our goal is to try to come up with an alternative hydraulically that will work, but at the same time, we have to think of the cost behind it,” Hydraulic Engineer Andre Chauncey said. “That’s why we request your assistance in helping us determine what would be feasible in this area.”

The Army Corps’ work is an elaborate, complicated study, and because the Corps’ budget is meant for a specific, project-based use, it is not always guaranteed. The process is also a lengthy one; it may take up to seven years to begin work on the most satisfactory plan. Mayor Dan Aschenbach stated that though he was appreciative of the Corps of Engineers’ extensive research, the end result may seem too far off for residents’ liking.

“I’ve been though the storms and I know what people put up with, and we want it done today,” he said. “It sounds like a long time for next year.”

Cranford is currently in the second phase of the , a five-phase flood-control program enacted in 2006. An express sewer takes in rainwater that previously flowed over properties, which is now collected in a large swale and transported into the river. A station pumps floodwaters that would otherwise flow over the dike back into the river. Cranford aims to complete Phase 2B – the connecting of streets and sewers near Riverside Drive and Glenwood Road into the pump station – by the end of next year.