U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers should speed up its review of a flood control project in the village of Mamaroneck before another flood hits.
Schumer visited Mamaroneck on Thursday and held a news conference at Columbus Park, where the flood-prone Mamaroneck and Sheldrake rivers meet. A large-scale flood mitigation plan for the area has been underway since 2007, when major flooding of the rivers contributed to Westchester being tagged a federal disaster area.
“Unfortunately, dealing with flooding has become a way of life in this area, in Mamaroneck and in Larchmont,” Schumer said. “When it”™s your home or your business being flooded almost once a year or even once every 20 years, that”™s a horrible thing to go through.”
The Army Corps recently presented the village with options for remediation projects and Mayor Norman Rosenblum said Mamaroneck chose a project that offered “the biggest bang for the buck.” The preferred plan will cost $59.2 million, at least 65 percent of which will be funded by the federal government, according to the senator.
The project will build retaining walls and deepen the Mamaroneck and Sheldrake rivers by 4.2 feet and 3.4 feet. The rivers will also be widened by more than 35 feet apiece, and six bridges on the rivers will either be removed or replaced. The entire project will reduce the flood risk for a “50-year storm” by 92 percent and reduce flood risks 84 percent in the event of a “100-year storm.”
The Army Corps is expected to complete its review of the project by next year, but the senator said the corps should expedite the project, which he called the No. 1 flood project in Westchester that is not Hurricane Sandy-related. He said he believed the corps could complete its review of Mamaroneck while also moving forward Sandy-related projects in New York City and elsewhere.
The 2007 floods were said to have caused more than $50 million worth of damage.
For more on this story, check Westfaironline.com next week.
