To the editor:
We had another close call in Manville with the recent rain event. It seems in the past we only had to worry when tropical storms hit our area but now things seem so different.
It is time for action by our state government. It has been well 40 years of inaction to confront a problem now more frequent than ever before.
There are some things that can be done immediately that would lower flood waters. One is to dredge a section of the Raritan River which would have a positive impact on lowering both rivers by about one foot during times of flooding per the Army Corps of Engineers.
In addition on the north side of town the Raritan River should run straight from north 10th to the Van Veghten bridge. The river may have been purposely moved back in the day for Johns Manville’s water needs.
All manmade restrictions of weirs and dams should be removed. The Island Farm weir was put into the river in the early 1990s before Hurricane Floyd hit in 1999. I would hope technology and engineering exists to allow the water company to get daily water needs without artificially raising both rivers. This way we will no longer have to debate the weir’s effect.
We cannot wait for federal funding of a levee system as seen in Bound Brook. That could take years. Levees are known to cause higher flood waters too. We need to see immediate actions to lower water levels during times of flooding. The time is now. The NJDEP is authorized to take action on its own without federal sponsorship.
I can’t think of any excuses not to see a shovel in the ground to improve our chances of saving Manville homes that have never flooded in the past. Surrounding towns would benefit by this approach too and our tax money would be well spent.
Mark your calendars! Please attend the June 25th flood commission meeting in Manville at 7 p.m. for the latest on the Army Corps flood study. It is a very important meeting to discuss cost benefit ratios of the three mitigation plans contained in the flood study and what the future holds for Manville.
Richard Onderko
Borough Councilman
Manville
