Public urged to vote yes on public question No. 3 to protect our environment
During the last two years, New Jersey has suffered from a drought and severe flooding – events which resulted in spoiled crops, water supply emergencies and damaged property throughout the state.
Public question No. 3 will help our state, county and local governments lessen the impact of future droughts and floods by providing the funds needed to repair high hazard dams, construct flood-control systems, clean debris from streams, restore community lakes and upgrade our public water supply system so it can better respond to drought emergencies.
Titled the "Dam, Lake, Stream, Flood Control, Water Resources and Wastewater Treatment Project Bond Act of 2003," the question will establish a $200 million fund to provide:
• $95 million in revolving loans to bring high-hazard dams into compliance with current national safety standards.
• $40 million to repair state-owned dams and for flood control.
• $60 million for loans to finance water resource, drought management, lake restoration and stream-cleaning projects.
• $5 million for New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust projects.
There are more than 1,600 dams in New Jersey providing flood control, water supply for drinking, irrigation for farming, and recreational opportunities.
It’s important to residents’ safety that these dams be maintained and repaired to avoid catastrophic failure.
In addition to making certain our dams meet current safety standards, it’s critical our water resources, lakes and streams are properly maintained. Therefore, public question No. 3 establishes a $65 million revolving loan fund for the cleanup of debris from streams, the restoration of lakes, improvements to drinking water supplies and wastewater treatment systems, improvement to drought management through water supply interconnections, and the extension of public water systems to areas with contaminated ground water.
Almost 80 percent of the bond act will go toward the establishment of revolving loan funds. This means that as the loans are paid back, money can be used to fund new loans for dam safety and water resource projects. The bond act will provide for a perpetual source of funding to make certain our state, counties and municipalities continue to have the money they need, now and in the future, to repair and maintain our water resources infrastructure.
There are also safeguards built into the act to assure the loans go to the most needy of projects.
The state Department of Environmental Protection, which must approve all loans, has established a priority list of those high-risk dams that need to be repaired first. Lake associations and other private dam owners seeking loans must apply as co-borrowers with a county or municipality to assure their projects are deemed important and provide for public safety.
By voting "yes" for public question No. 3 on Nov. 4, New Jersey voters have an opportunity to fund important water resource, flood control and dam safety projects that will make our communities safer, protect our water resources and improve our environment.
Philip K. Beachem
chairman
New Jersey Water Resources Safety Council
Edison