Rye’s Flood Advisory Committee recommended against dredging the Upper Pond at Bowman Avenue Dam, but endorsed continued analysis of raising the height of the dam.

 

By Jon Craig

 

Rye’s Flood Advisory Committee recommended against dredging the Upper Pond at Bowman Avenue Dam, but endorsed continued analysis of raising the height of the dam.

 

In a report to the City Council last week, Rafael Elias-Linero, who chairs the committee, said it is open to more study of adding two feet to the dam height, could help contain water elevation by another foot.

 

Elias-Linero said that without vetting data from conflicting engineering studies, it’s impossible to determine if the options previously analyzed are viable. Further studies must include the down-stream impact below I-95 in order to assess the cost-benefit related to the City’s downtown civic areas. He said he hopes the city determines something conclusive “before the next flood hits.”

 

Further studies must include the downstream impact below I-95 in order to assess the cost-benefit related to the city’s downtown civic areas.

 

The reports’ findings seem “inconclusive and preliminary at this time,’’ he told Council. And further explanation of the data is necessary.

 

The flood advisory committee asked WSP Sells, the engineering firm that conducted both studies, to provide more details on the methodology in each study and the reliability of each report. The more recent study (May 2012) found higher water volumes than earlier studies, including August 2007.

 

Councilman Peter Jovanovich told Elias-Linero that the engineers should be able to tell the City how they arrived at their numbers since they wrote both reports.

 

One of the causes of the discrepancies, noted Councilwoman Catherine Parker, may be due to reliance on estimates rather than actual data. Damage to rain gauges that would cost approximately $15,000 to replace, led to speculation in at least some of the studies.

 

If additional money to conduct further study is needed, the Council should fund it from contingency accounts, Parker suggested. “Why not go out and buy (new gauges) now?’’ she asked.

 

Mayor Doug French agreed, saying the City is committed to moving forward and awaits a report from the City Manager Scott Pickup in response to the Flood Committee findings.

 

With regard to the sluice gate project, a joint project with the Village of Rye Brook, Pickup said the gate mechanism is being made and the project is on schedule for September construction. “We want to make sure the systems are not separate but all connected,’’ he said.

 

Mayor French said he has reached out to other local mayors to coordinate solutions for their common flooding concerns.

 

“Due to the absence of a viable shovel-ready project,” said Elias-Linero, “we cannot recommend including those works in the upcoming (infrastructure) bond.”