U.S. Senator Bob Menendez toured the Rahway River in Cranford yesterday with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Colonel David Caldwell, the New York District commander, to see firsthand their efforts to mitigate the flood threat along the entire 82-square-mile Rahway River Basin.
The senator has continued to fight in Congress to expedite this project and for federal funding needed to complete a required feasibility study.
“ Residents along the Rahway River live under the constant threat whenever it rains that the waters could overflow their banks, putting their loved ones in harm’s way, and destroying everything they’ve worked so hard to attain ,” said Menendez.
“Fixing the flood problem along the Rahway River is my highest priority project for the Army Corps’ New York District. I have worked hard to make sure that the funding is in place to complete the feasibility study, and now seeing the plan with my own eyes, I am hopeful we can move this project forward to protect our communities and families.”
The Army Corps has tentatively determined that the most effective plan of action to mitigate flooding calls for approximately 8,930 feet of trapezoidal channel improvements along the Rahway River from the end of Nomahegan Park to South Ave. in Cranford and the installation of two, new, 36-inch outlet pipes at the Orange Reservoir in Orange.
The federal government has already provided $3,280,000 since the feasibility study was first authorized in 1997, including an additional $379,000, approved by the Senate in May as part of the Water Development and Related Agencies Act appropriations bill, to complete the study to determine the most effective flood mitigation design along the Rahway River Basin, which flows through Union, Essex and Middlesex Counties.
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