Residents Reach for Higher Ground As Township Puts Forth a Flood Plan

Matthew Hersh

In its continuing effort to address and reduce the impact of flooding in the area, members of the Princeton Township Flood Control Committee released a final draft of a flood mitigation plan geared to answer the concerns of residents who have been affected by flooding in the Township.

The plan, which concludes nearly a year's work between the residents, the Township Engineering Department, Storm Water Management Consulting (SWM), and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), is primarily aimed at residents living in the Harry's Brook and the Stony Brook neighborhoods.

The report identifies everything from the history of flooding in the Township to assessing current flooding issues, and was largely guided by a survey sent out by the flood committee to residents whose neighborhoods are regularly subjected to floods, even during routine weather events.

Over 400 surveys were sent out to targeted neighborhoods, resulting in 115 responses to the flood committee. About half those polled had suffered damage from water ‹ mostly nominal, but some significant, with six respondents incurring over $10,000 in damage. Only 17 of those polled had flood insurance.

The report cites an increase in impervious surfaces as a factor in the increase of flooding, as well as the building of larger homes on Township lots that once housed modest-sized homes.

But Greg Westfall, water resource planner for NRCS, also cited streambank erosion as another possible reason for higher flood marks. Another factor, he said, was aging dams that allow higher levels of sediment in Lake Carnegie, an issue, he said, that "needs to be addressed" and could merit the possibility of ecological restoration efforts of the lake, namely, dredging.

"The aging dams that are on the Stony Brook that were built 30, 40, almost 50 years ago to keep sediment out of Lake Carnegie, are in need of rehabilitation," he said, adding that the impact on the lake could be "significant" if the dams are not tended to. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is currently studying Lake Carnegie to determine if it does need some sort of restoration. The Ringoes-based Princeton Hydro is conducting the work for the Corps.

In addition to various municipal law-making maneuvers that could discourage property owners from tearing down smaller houses to make way for so-called "McMansions," Mr. Westfall suggested taxing properties based on square-footage of impervious surfaces. That money, in turn, would fund streambank stabilization and flood damage mitigation.

Sensing unease among the gathering about the prospect of more taxation, Mr. Westfall quickly added that a tax was "just an option" and that other communities throughout the state had suggested similar remedies.

It also appeared that the flood committee partially relied on testimony and video footage compiled by Olivia Applegate of Random Road, who has been an advocate for residents of the flood-plagued Harry's Brook. In that presentation, she claimed that the stream basin was no longer effective and that the brook floods virtually every time there is substantial rainfall. One notable flood occurred last year, as snow melted from heavy rains created in-ground pools for virtually anyone with a backyard along the brook.

Norm Glickman, a Poe Road resident and urban planning professor at Rutgers University, blamed "little houses being replaced by big houses."

"We need to think about the issue of over-development," he said, pointing out that state regulations largely target only developers building sub-divisions or multi-house developments, but not individual builders.

"The situation has gotten worse over the last three or four years and it's coincided with the increased development," he said, calling on the Township to acquire increased funding for erosion control.

Robert Kiser, Township engineer, said the purpose of the plan is to avert these situations by putting forth a mitigation plan that would make the Township eligible for state funding.

Township Committeeman Bill Enslin supported Mr. Glickman's suggestion that builders should bear some responsibility: "If they're going to build, they've got to follow the adage 'do no harm'."

The draft flood plan will soon appear on the Township website, Mr. Kiser said.