After typing that headline, I was ready to list sculling results, but alas, echoing what DPW director Hal Alvord said, the CT DEP claimed the dam removal of a few years ago did not cause additional flooding.
From the Hour:
Building a dike, channel or other device to stem flooding along the Five Mile River would require a cost-benefit analysis, according to state and federal officials who toured the area Tuesday afternoon.
“It has to meet the cost-benefit (analysis),” said Chris Hatfield, a project manager in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ New England District Office, speaking to about 40 residents gathered at the West Norwalk Meeting House. “If the benefits outweigh the costs, the government can get involved.”Hatfield said the Army Corps offers two technical assistance programs, in effect, consulting. Anything built by the Corps would entail a cost share. Larger projects require congressional backing and funding, he said.
Among those listening were West Norwalk Association board member Robert Wagman; state Sen. Bob Duff, D-25, majority whip; a representative of state Rep. Lawrence F. Cafero Jr., R-142, minority leader; Director of Public Works Harold F. Alvord; Common Council President Fred A. Bondi; Planning Commissioner Walter O. Briggs; and Mayor Richard A. Moccia.
Moccia said afterward that the city will seek technical assistance from the Corps. He said the city must determine how many homes are affected in the Five Mile River flood-plain area and look for immediate solutions.
“We’re going to sit down with Bob (Wagman) and Conservation Commissioners and see what we can do to come up with an acceptable plan to correct the situation,” Moccia said. “We need a coordinated effort. We don’t want to do it piecemeal.”
Earlier Tuesday afternoon, Wagman and other residents showed Hatfield and Arthur Christian, supervisor of the Inland Water Resources Division of the state Department of Environmental Protection, eroded riverbanks and damage to properties on Bonnybrook Road and Trail, and Morehouse and Watering lanes.
“Everyone along here has suffered some damage,” Wagman said.
Off Prince’s Pine Road, Rick DiPasquale pointed to where a century- old dam was largely removed three years ago. DiPasquale said the DEP found the dam unsafe and gave residents the option of repairing or removing it. Lacking repair funds, they opted to have the dam lowered to a level deemed safe by the state.
“Since they’ve taken down the dam, erosion has increased dramatically,” DiPasquale said.
Those living immediately upstream of the dam lost their pond. Those downstream now experience “unmanageable flows” during rainstorms, such as the April 15 Nor’easter, according to DiPasquale.
While some residents would like to see the dam rebuilt, doing so would not eliminate flooding, according to Christian, a technical advisor to the state’s dam safety program.
source: The Hour, Neighbors seek flood advice from Army Corps of Engineers, by , November 28, 2007
