Permanent solutions sought for water issues
BY VICTORIA HURLEY-SCHUBERT
Staff Writer

MARLBORO - More than 40 federal, state, county and local officials gathered last week to take a hard look at watershed impairments and flooding in the township.

The meeting was dubbed the Marlboro Multi-Watershed Restoration/Protection Project Summit.

Mayor Robert Kleinberg said water issues have caused "undue hardship" on residents.

An initial study, "The Identification and Evaluation of Impairments Within the Watersheds of Marlboro Township," was done in conjunction with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over the past several years. A watershed can be a drainage area, river basin or catchment, according to stormwater.org, a journal for surface water management professionals.

After dividing Marlboro into four watersheds, 662 total impairments - problems - were identified and reduced to 11 priority areas.

"You can see the sheer size of the problems the township was dealing with," said Michael Sinnema, a senior associate at Birdsall Engineering.

The primary problems include stream bank erosion that leads to sedimentation (soil, land or minerals washed from land to water); flow blockages like debris or litter; and inadequate storm water infrastructure, said Sinnema.

Some of the problems Marlboro is facing now can be attributed to poorly planned development in the past, he added.

The goal of the ongoing effort is to design long-term solutions to the problem and to get away from the Band-Aid approach that has previously been used to address Marlboro's water woes. The top three solutions include sediment and debris removal, stream bank stabilization, and infrastructure upgrades.

The $100,000 in study costs were split between the Army Corps and the township. Marlboro paid $25,000 in cash from storm water management funds, Business Administrator Judith Tiernan said.

The other $25,000 was from in-kind services, said Sinnema.

The Army Corps funds come from Congressional appropriations.

The township may receive federal funds to develop a watershed restoration plan for flood control with small-scale projects like stream bank restoration from the Water Resources Development Act of 2007 (WRDA) through the Army Corps of Engineers.

No amount has been determined yet; that figure will be allocated during the Congressional appropriations process, said Heather Lasher Todd, a press secretary in Congressman Frank Pallone's (D-NJ) office.

WRDA is the authorization of federal funding for nationwide water management projects.

"The House's approval of this legislation is a real and constructive step in helping to preserve water quality in Marlboro and to protect the environment from erosion, flooding and other damage," Congressman Rush Holt (D-N.J.) said. "Marlboro understands that addressing watershed issues is vital for the quality of life of its residents."

Reports of the township's renewed interest in dealing with the water woes drew a rebuke from the Democrats who will square off against the Republican ticket in this year's municipal election.

Kleinberg and Township Council members Joseph Pernice and Patti Morelli are running for re-election.

The Democrats, mayoral candidate Jon Hornik and council candidates Frank LaRocca and Randi Marder, called the water summit a political ploy to grab headlines.

"This is not a new problem, this should have been handled three-plus years ago," Hornik said. "I'm not questioning the solution, I'm questioning the timing."

Marder added, "It took an election year for Mayor Kleinberg to even mention flooding as a problem in our community. The mayor has proposed nothing new and is just trying to exploit the recent flooding for a cheap headline. Where was the mayor on this issue three years ago when something could have been done to prevent flooding that occurred just last week?"

For the past 18 months, Hurricane Katrina efforts slowed federal aid and appropriations for other projects, Kleinberg said.

"In government, nothing works at warp speed. This is something we started working on in 2005," the mayor said in response to the Democrats' broadside.