Anyone who lived in the Elmira area in 1972 knows how destructive floods can be.
What they might not be aware of is the elaborate network of flood control and warning facilities that have been set up over the years since the Tropical Storm Agnes flood through a cooperative effort among federal, state, county and local agencies.
Several representatives from the state Department of Environmental Conservation were in Elmira on March 17 to tour some of those facilities and to promote efforts to keep residents living near the Chemung River and other waterways safe from the specter of flooding.
Among the entourage was Alexander “A.J.” Smith, DEC’s deputy commissioner for water resources. There’s a reason DEC chose the Elmira network to highlight, Smith said.
“Elmira is pretty special because we’ve got so much happening. It’s one of our largest, I think, right, to maybe even be our largest flood control project, at least in the Southern Tier,” he said.
“We have a lot of different components and we’ve made some real serious investments financially into making sure that we’re upgrading and keeping the flood control projects current and functioning really well,” Smith said. “Looking at other water infrastructure projects around the immediate area that I think are all combined together at really doing what the governor has asked us to do, which is resilient communities across the board, across New York state.”
Smith and the others toured four sites during their Elmira stop — the Sullivan Street pump station adjacent to the Clarion Inn, the U.S. Geological Survey Lake Street gauge on the southside of the Chemung River, the Brand Park/Dunn Field seepage pressure relief wells on Robinson Street, and the Chemung County wastewater treatment plant consolidation project on Milton Street.
Smith also pointed out that the Sullivan Street pump station, built in 1950, is the oldest and largest facility of its kind in New York state.
“That was really fascinating to see,” he said. “It’s a super old structure, but we’ve been maintaining it to keep it functioning, right? And it still does exactly what it was built to do.”
Among the other participants in the March 17 tour was DEC Region 8 Director Timothy Walsh, who said flood control is a team effort and his agency works very closely with local officials.
“We participate in local emergency planning committee meetings. We work together to make sure that as conditions change throughout the area, we are working closely with them,” Walsh said. “We might be tapping resources from a local department of public works or fire department, as well as other state agencies and county agencies.”
The bottom line, according to Smith, is that residents and business owners can feel confident they will be properly warned and protected in any future flood events.
“So if people want to know how well protected we are against floods, you can tell them DEC has got a handle on it,” he said. “DEC is on the job.”
In the meantime, Elmira is also getting help with flood control through a grant provided through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The two agencies announced $44 million in grant awards to support water quality improvement, habitat restoration and community stewardship efforts in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
The 72 grants will leverage nearly $31 million in non-federal matching contributions to generate a total conservation impact of $75 million, according to a news release.
Among the grants awarded is $148,719 for Chemung County.
The funds will be used to implement nature-based stormwater infrastructure in Elmira by retrofitting existing urban streetscapes with permeable pavers and street trees, and constructing underground basins for stormwater storage and infiltration.
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This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: DEC is ‘on the job.’ How Elmira flood control projects keep city safe
Reporting by Jeff Murray, Elmira Star-Gazette / Elmira Star-Gazette
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