Politics & Government

Local Mayors Take First Major Step Toward Flood Control

The Mayors Council take the first major step to reduce flooding in the Rahway River Watershed.

The Mayors Council signed an inter-local agreement to develop the South Mountain Regional Detention Basin, on Wednesday at Town Hall in Millburn, as the first major step to reduce the Rahway River flooding.  

The dentention basin is a storage project to reduce water elevations during peak storms in the Rahway River Watershed, such as Hurricane Irene. 

"This is the first step moving forward on accomplishing this," Mayor Sandra Haimoff said about the proposed basin. Haimoff explained the name was changed to emphasize the regional aspect of the project. 

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The basin is proposed for the South Mountain Reservation but in the City of Orange. However, the Mayors Council has met with the mayor of Orange, Dwayne Warren, and will meet with the Orange's City Council soon.  According to officials, the plan was well-received by Essex County and County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, as well as local legislators.

The mayors of Millburn, Union, Springfield, Cranford, Kenilworth, Maplewood and Rahway, as well as the towns' governing boards approved the agreement. 

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The townships joined together with the US Army Corps of Engineers and the State of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to focus on a dry dam in the reservation between Campbell’s Mill Pond and Diamond Hill Pond. 

The Corps did hydrology assessments and determined preliminarily that water elevations during peak storm conditions during 100-year storms would be almost three feet lower in Millburn, Union and Springfield and 1.5 feet lower in Cranford and reduced elevations in Rahway. 

Read more about what the Mayors Council has done to prevent flooding recently:

10 Suggestions Given to Reduce Rahway River Runoff Storm water management experts proposed 10 regional practices to deal with water infiltration for the 24 municipalities affected by the Rahway River watershed, which…

Towns Along Watershed Join Together To Fund Flood Control Project Governing bodies from the communities that are represented on the Mayors Council on Rahway River Watershed Flood Control agreed last week to enter into an interlocal…

Mayors Form Task Force To Work With Army Corps Of Engineers The Mayors Council Rahway River Watershed Flood Control has established a task force to work with the US Army Corps of Engineers on the next project evaluation on its…

Presentation Will Explain Flood Mitigation Proposal The Mayors Council on Rahway River Watershed Flood Control will host a presentation on a proposal to develop a South Mountain Dry Detention Basin in the South Mountain…

Millburn Mayor Asks For Flood Relief Funding Mayor Sandra H. Haimoff and other mayors representing communities in the Rahway River Watershed met with area legislators at Union County College last week to seek…


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