COMPREHENSIVE FLOOD CONTROL PLAN

By Mark J Trabucco

What we can do to slow the flood waters

Flooding occurs when too much water tries to occupy too little space, over too little time. Overabundant amounts of rain, such as June's thirteen inches, require an initially large volume of space until the excess water can make its way downstream. Some people will lead you to believe that dredging + a process used to deepen waterways + will solve our problem with high water levels. It may seem logical that by moving water away, our damages can be minimized. The hydrology is more complicated, however. The problem with making our channels deeper is that the end result will instead be faster, more forcefully flowing water.

Although dredging may save one neighborhood, it will in turn damage another. If Owego dredges, Nichols and Sayre will feel the effects of it. If Conklin dredges, Tioga County will suffer, and so on. This will continue the entire length of the valley. A concept known as desynchronization is a solution better suited to all areas. The idea behind this process is to decrease the speed of the water flow. If the speed of a flowing river is reduced, a longer period of time between the end of precipitation and the crest of the river will result. The results would essentially be that a longer section of the river would have low level flooding rather than a short section of the river having severe flooding which in turn leads to a lower bill for cleanup.

The second piece of the puzzle is to increase the amount of wetlands and naturally flowing, stable tributaries. These act as sponges during heavy rainfall and are good buffers against flooding. If the landmass of a region is 5% wetlands, there will be 50% less flooding than if the region had no wetlands at all. We have unwisely allowed too many of these natural sponges to be paved over. Wetlands also provide other benefits for the environment. They function as natural water purifiers, as well as natural habitats for wildlife.

In order to cope with our new reality, we will also need new flood maps. These will require time and money to prepare, and we will be startled by what they indicate. Many of us will find that we are in hazardous locations. That said, some of our built-up areas do need to be saved as-is. I'm thinking now of the Historic Districts of Norwich, Greene, the Village of Owego and of other such districts and significant buildings in the tier. If the means of saving these is by building dykes, this may involve sacrifice on the part of other neighborhoods. While telling one group that their homes are not as important and another's is never easy, neither is rebuilding our community every spring.

Ultimately, what is needed is a plan. This plan should comprise the length of the Susquehanna River, beginning at its origin near Cooperstown, and ending at the Chesapeake Bay. It should be comprehensive, cost-effective, and should be divided into increments of time, say, 20, 50 and 100 years. A plan like this will require teamwork, compromise, and dedication. It probably will call for an end to construction in the designated flood plain, the establishment of wetlands, and many simple things like planting grass in roadside ditches (in the Susquehanna River basin we have 17,000 miles of roadside ditches and 13,000 miles of streams). The plan may also prescribe the gradual buyout of properties in the flood plain and the protection of areas such as the city of Binghamton, and the Historic Districts, which cannot be replaced. The area may eventually come to look different, perhaps unrecognizable in some respects, but it will be these changes that will save us from the flooding that would nevertheless change our communities. If we don't form a plan of our own, we will be forced to live with the one Mother Nature has for us, and we will not like it.