Westwood Officials Want to Take a New Approach to Water Management Changes

Westwood officials decided Tuesday night to ask the borough engineer to gather data to see if a solution or improvement to area flooding can be found. Officials stressed that they're looking to ease the problem of what is referred to as "nuisance flooding," which occurred in the borough this spring, and not for a major storm like Irene.

Mayor John Birkner Jr. asked council members Tuesday to authorize Boswell Engineering to do a more detailed review of the dams and reservoirs in the area than he presented in the spring and how it relates to the operating procedures of United Water. Borough Engineer Stephen Boswell estimated the cost at $7,000.

Birkner said he would like to back up anecdotal evidence from residents about the practices of United Water with scientific data and present it to the state Department of Environmental Protection, which technically owns all the water in New Jersey.

"It's not going to be us going to United Water and making a claim. It's us going to the state of New Jersey as interested parties to be able to say the permit that United Water has is flawed and this is why," Birkner said. "It is causing a deleterious effect and impact on our residents and here's why."

But Rich Henning of United Water told Patch that the long-term solution to the problem is restoring flood plains and removing homes from the area. He said the low lying areas could house ball fields or parks but should not have homes.

Henning said Governor Christie put forward millions of dollars to buy houses in the flood basin of the Passaic River, but this area was overlooked.

"We're not getting any money up here in Bergen County," Henning said. "It's something we should be fighting for. That would erase the mistakes of building in a flood plain."

According to Henning, United Water lowered reservoir levels prior to Hurricane Irene under a special order from the governor and there aren't plans to continue that practice.

"Putting the water supply for a million people in Bergen and Hudson County at risk is just not an answer. It's not an option," Henning said. "It's time for the real action, to restore areas to what they were more than a century ago which was a flood plain and natural land."

Some members of the council worried that Westwood doing a study on its own wouldn't have the same effect as a group of municipalities participating. Birkner said Boswell would reach out to the engineers in the surrounding areas and ask them to also participate in the project, but Westwood would take the lead.

"Right now as I've explained in other reports and to the Pascack Valley Waterway Management Task Force, what we're doing is spinning our wheels. We keep doing the same things over and over and over again," Birkner said. "This is changing the course of action. This brings a new course of action that actually hasn't been done before that can bring the result that I think our residents need."

Councilman John J. Sciara asked if any grant funding might be available to help defray the cost of such a study. Boswell said there is none he is aware of, but he will investigate the possibility, including any money that might be available from FEMA.

Birkner said he thought the cost would be worth it. "I think it's a small price to pay for doing something that hasn't been done before," he said. "It puts us in the position to go to the state regulatory agencies to say, 'We disagree with what the position is of the utility and this is why.'"

Boswell said a major focus of the study would be dam control, but he would also look at stream impediments and how area bridges affect water flow. He said many bridges have been improved and they limit the amount of water that can be released at any given time.

Birkner said officials would learn if flooding can be mitigated in certain flooding situations. "If it can't be done, it's also going to be proven by science and by engineering," he said.

Henning said United Water would cooperate with any study the borough decides to complete, providing them with the necessary information.