An open letter alert for elected officials

At the Sept. 24, meeting of the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) the resolution amending the Water Code to implement the Flexible Flow Management Plan (FFMP) will be considered by the commission. If accepted this will make permanent the FFMP until 2011. PA must vote “NO” to the Water Code Amendments. Twenty pages in the Water Code are devoted to drought, but there is no dedicated section for a basin wide flood management plan. The Flood Mitigation Task Force and Gov. Rendell both recommended it. How can this be explained to the people who have lived through three devastating floods? The citizens of Pennsylvania deserve better than this, and Catherine Myers, the PA Representative to the commission needs to change her planned yes vote to a NO vote. The Governors appropriated $500,000 for the Flood Analysis Model. At the Sept. 24 meeting, a report will be presented on the status of this flood model. Why would PA vote the same day to approve a plan that does not consider this model? No vote on the water code should be taken until the new model has been fully implemented! A specific procedure plan by the NYCDEP for any closing of the Delaware Aqueduct needs to be in the FFMP. We have learned that they plan on closing the Rondout Tunnel for repairs, thereby preventing diversions of water out of 100 percent full reservoirs if a rain event is on the way! There is also not plan to create voids before closing the tunnel. The DRBC has received thousands of public comments during their notice of rulemaking. Yet, unbelievably, the DRBC is not going to prepare the document of these comments until after they have voted to approve the Water Code Amendments. Why were these comments taken from the public? They were to be considered to help make changes because many of the comments pose very valid arguments. The Governors must see the public comments before they approve of a vote to approve the water code amendments. The water release schedule in the FFMP has a yo-yo effect on the river jeopardizing endangered species and world renowned trout fisheries and does not create a void in the reservoirs. It is based on inaccurate safe yield figures as reported by the NJDEP. Until accurate proven scientific data produces an “equitable apportionment” of the water, Pa must vote” NO” to these Water Code Amendments.” The City’s consumption today (1.1 billion gallons per day) is the same as in 1946 before the Delaware Reservoirs were built. In 1946 their Hudson watershed supplied their needs. In the last seven years, the average daily diversions have been only 500mgd; 37 percent less than 800 million gallons allowed by the Supreme Court. Yet, the City refuses to release enough water to ensure the health of the river and to create voids. FFMP calls for reservoir levels to be at 100 percent from April to July! We had two major floods during this time when the reservoirs were full and spilling before the rain events of April 05- (103+ percent), and June 06 (104+ percent) FFMP does not count rainfall and only 50 percent of snow pack when calculating the levels of the reservoirs. This prompted reservoirs to be at 100 percent many times this year. Governor Rendell had to call for a voids in April ! FFMP contains no plans to provide larger release values/ flood gates reservoirs. Water can not be let out of reservoirs quick enough with present small values, when rain event is on the way. It takes three weeks to lower by 20 percent FFMP does not contain mandatory dam inspection reports. With Johnstown dam which held 5 billion gallons and killing 2,200, wouldn’t it be prudent to require inspection reports as these aging Delaware dams hold 35, 96 and 140 billion gallons? The people living and working in the Delaware River Basin understand that there is a risk of flooding. If we have a flood and we know that our politicians have fought to make the FFMP an equitable plan that does everything possible to protect us from flooding, then we will accept the flooding. However; what we cannot accept is a plan that is based on incomplete models, inaccurate data and is being voted on once again in haste. This information should come to Governor Rendell’s attention immediately. Gail Pedrick of New Hope writes on behalf of the Delaware Riverside Conservancy www.drconline.org