Thursday, March 21, 2013
An attorney for the Hillsdale & Westwood Flood Solution Group said more changes need to be made to minimize flooding.
Westwood officials still want the Department of Environmental Protection to order an operations change at the Woodcliff Lake Reservoir as was recommended in a 2011 report, Mayor John Birkner said this week. Members of the Hillsdale & Westwood Flood Solution Group said the change alone would not be enough. United Water, which owns the reservoir, keeps the water level slightly higher in the summer than in the winter. A 2011 report prepared for Westwood by Boswell Engineering recommended changing operations at the reservoir to maintain the lower level all year. Water which leaves the reservoir flows into the Pascack Brook, which flooded some homes five times in 2011. Birkner said the change could "mitigate a certain degree of flooding." …
Monday, March 11, 2013
The state Department of Environmental Protection has given United Water until April 1 to outline their schedule for the project.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection is requiring United Water to start work to upgrade the dam at the Woodcliff Lake Reservoir "as soon as possible" in a letter dated March 1. The DEP is requiring United Water to approximately double the rate at which water can flow out of the reservoir so that the dam would not break in a 1,000-year storm. United Water has until April 1 to submit a schedule for the project. Steven Goudsmith, a company rep, told Patch that the schedule is still being developed. United Water's plan was approved by the DEP in late 2011, but work has not yet started. Hillsdale officials have insisted the borough's Planning Board should review the effects the project could have on downstream flooding along …
Thursday, March 7, 2013
The Hillsdale & Westwood Flood Solution Group's attorney said some flooding along the Pascack Brook can be stopped.
The Hillsdale & Westwood Flood Solution Group, an organization of residents affected or concerned by flooding, offered to work more closely with the Hillsdale government during a borough council meeting Tuesday night. Donald MacLachlan, an attorney representing the group, said that the council should form a committee tasked with advising the governing body on resolving the flooding problem along the Pascack Brook. MacLachlan said the committee could help with formulating a plan and also finding funding for any projects needed for the plan. The state government is currently "highly sensitive" to flooding issues, he said. The upcoming United Water project to upgrade the dam at the Woodcliff Lake Reservoir is one focus of the group, but not …
Monday, February 25, 2013
United Water sued Hillsdale to void a pair of land use laws the borough passed last year.
A lawsuit filed by United Water against Hillsdale stands as the next step in the legal battle over a proposed project to upgrade the Woodcliff Lake Reservoir dam. The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is requiring United Water to approximately double the rate at which water can flow out of the reservoir. The DEP approved a plan submitted by United Water in 2011. Hillsdale has asserted that its Planning Board should review United Water's plans because of concerns that the project could worsen flooding along the Pascack Brook downstream from the reservoir. The borough passed two ordinances last year which create additional borough oversight for tree removal and utility projects in order to "protect the public health, safety …
Friday, February 22, 2013
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities declined to decide if they have jurisdiction over the proposed Woodcliff Lake Dam upgrade project, which some say could affect flooding in Hillsdale and Westwood.
A state board decided Wednesday that it does not have the authority to make a decision requested by United Water on the utility's proposed dam upgrade project for the Woodcliff Lake Reservoir. United Water filed a petition with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) last year asking the board to find that their plan for the dam — which would approximately double the rate at which water can flow into the Pascack Brook — is "reasonably necessary;" and that local land use ordinances have no authority over the plan. Hillsdale officials have argued that the plan should be heard by the borough Planning Board because it could affect flooding in the brook. The BPU dismissed the petition without prejudice this week, declining to rule that …
Monday, October 29, 2012
The Pascack Brook did not come close to flood stage Monday, and not much more rain is expected, according to the Hillsdale Office of Emergency Management.
Updated at 9:25 p.m. Hillsdale has canceled its flood watch, according to a message from the borough's Office of Emergency Management. As of 8:45 p.m. Monday, the Pascack Brook in Westwood had not passed two feet, according to the National Weather Service. The brook reaches flood stage at five feet. OEM officials said they expected only one more inch of rain through the night. High winds have knocked down numerous trees around the area and knocked out power for some residents, though the exact extent of power outages was not immediately clear Monday night. Earlier Monday, residents of flood-prone neighborhoods in Hillsdale and Westwood said they were upset that the Woodcliff Lake Reservoir was not lowered more as Hurricane Sandy approached…
Friday, October 26, 2012
Officials hope the reservoir will be able to lessen the severity of flooding when Hurricane Sandy hits.
Updated at 8:20 p.m. United Water will perform a controlled release of water from the Woodcliff Lake Reservoir before Hurricane Sandy hits, state officials announced Friday night. The release will take place over a period of 20 to 30 hours. Lake Tappan and the Oradell Reservoir will also be lowered. "These actions are necessary due to the potentially unprecedented nature of the storm that is heading our way," Governor Chris Christie said in a press release. "A great deal of rainfall is expected which could cause major flooding, so we are taking every step we can to try to mitigate the potential flooding that could occur." Sandy is expected to make landfall in New Jersey Monday. Local officials had asked the utility to consider releasing …
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Hillsdale wants an engineer who specializes in dams to review United Water's plan for the Woodcliff Lake Reservoir Dam.
Hillsdale officials are making a second attempt to find an engineer who specializes in dams to review United Water's plan to upgrade the dam at the Woodcliff Lake Reservoir. Officials, citing concern that the project could increase flooding along the Pascack Brook, had initially sent out a call for bids over the summer, with a limit of $10,000 to spend on the project. Mayor Max Arnowitz previously told Patch he hoped to have an engineer finish a report by September. They only received one response, with a quote of $12,500, according to borough administrator Jonathan DeJoseph. Now the borough is going to make a second call for bids, and they're upping the limit to $12,500. DeJoseph said they hope to get more responses with the higher budget…
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Westwood and Hillsdale residents whose homes flooded during Hurricane Irene are still worried about flooding one year after the storm hit.
One year ago, Hurricane Irene blew through the Pascack Valley and caused some of the worst flooding in local history, damaging hundreds of homes and temporarily displacing some families. Local governments spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to repair roads and clean up public areas. Residents reported depths ranging from a few inches to several feet of water in their homes, as did some business owners. Flooding was particularly bad in the area around Harding Avenue in Westwood and Beechwood Drive in Hillsdale, where several homeowners are now participating in government buyout programs. Hundreds of homes in Westwood reported flooding from Irene, according to Camille LoBello of the Hillsdale and Westwood Flood Solution Group, an …
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Westwood Mayor John Birkner said raising the Woodcliff Lake Reservoir Dam helped prevent flooding during a storm last week.
The flooding caused by a storm last week could have been more severe if the dam at the Woodcliff Lake Reservoir had not been set at a low level before the storm began, according to Westwood Mayor John Birkner. The dam was set at 90.3 feet the afternoon before the storm hit and was raised to almost 94 feet in just a few hours, according to Birkner. The storm proved that United Water should follow the operational guidelines suggested by a report from Boswell Engineering last year, he said. The report recommends that United Water keep the dam at the lower level now used in the winter year-round so that it can be raised during storms like the one last week to slow the rate of water flowing into the Pascack Brook. "Had the dam level been at 95 …
Curious
10:46 am on Tuesday, March 12, 2013
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