By Peter Sclafani, Staff Writer
HILLSBOROUGH:" The Hillsborough Township Committee authorized a new grant application it hopes will help dry up flooding problems Hillsborough and the surrounding communities have been experiencing in the past decade.
The World Institute for Natural Systems, a nonprofit organization based in Hillsborough, has enlisted the help of the township in applying for the Sustainable Jersey Grant funded by PSE&G.
According to its website, Sustainable Jersey is “a certification program for municipalities in New Jersey that want to go green, save money and take steps to sustain their quality of life over the long term.”
Angela Clerico, senior planner for the nonprofit, presented the plan the World Institute for Natural Systems would implement if the township receives the $10,000 grant. Her nonprofit would use the grant money to compile data on the studies regarding flooding of the Raritan and Millstone rivers that previously have been conducted.
”We hope to create a baseline for moving forward,” Ms. Clerico said.
If Hillsborough is awarded the grant, the money will be given to the Raritan-Millstone Flood Commission, which has agreed to hire The World Institute for Natural Systems to conduct the three-month review.
The commission is comprised of nine towns that are affected by the rising waters of the Raritan and Millstone rivers as well as their tributaries, including Hillsborough and Manville.
The nonprofit will compile the surveys done and recommendations made in the past 30 years as a way of seeing what has worked and what hasn’t worked in preventing floodwaters from reaching residents’ homes and businesses.
”The nine towns are eager to look at the problem in a new way,” Ms. Clerico said.
There is yet to be a comprehensive solution to the damage the Raritan and Millstone rivers continue to do to the towns that lie along their river banks. The Township Committee is hopeful The World Institute for Natural Systems’ observations will yield positive results.
”The commission is open to any kind of solution,” Ms. Clerico said. “Something needs to change.”
Sustainable Jersey has designated Hillsborough as a bronze level sustainable community. By participating in the grant program, Hillsborough is on its way to improving its sustainability status to highest and only other level, silver.
Ms. Clerico said the goal of the World Institute for Natural Systems’ plan is to identify green infrastructure solutions, then seek additional funding to implement them.
If the grant is awarded, the estimated start date for the nonprofit’s project is the beginning of September, according to Ms. Clerico.

