Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara chaired a public hearing of the Legislative Commission on Rural Resources to discuss flood mitigation measures needed in rural communities.

“Year after year, floods put the health and safety of families at risk, cause millions of dollars in property damage,” said Assemblyman Santabarbara, who is a civil engineer by trade. “The cost to research and implement effective mitigation measures can save millions in future recovery, clean up and infrastructure repairs.”

Santabarbara also noted the ice jams that cause annual flooding in Schenectady’s Historic Stockade area. New York State had the second-most ice jams nationally, with 20 events, and the most in 2018 with 27 events.

Locally, the governor recently proposed allocating $65 million to prevent future flooding of the Mohawk River in the Schenectady area. This year’s budget proposal also includes $300 million to revitalize the Erie Canal by utilizing ice-breaking technology, completing flood prevention projects, developing an early warning system for potential flooding and retrofitting the Vischer Ferry Dam to prevent ice jams and downstream flooding. It’s estimated that 80% of flooding along the Mohawk River is caused by ice jams during the winter snowmelt. This is especially catastrophic for the historic Stockade neighborhood in Schenectady, which floods almost annually.

“These projects will help protect residents and historic neighborhoods and strengthen local communities,” Santabarbara noted. “Although some progress has been made, the work of this commission will focus on what still needs to be done to protect our rural communities from flooding,” Santabarbara added.

The public hearing heard testimony from a number of state and local officials and stakeholders including:

• Dan O’Hara, Director of the Office of Emergency Management, State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services;
• James Tierney, Deputy Commissioner for Water Resources, State Department of Environmental Conservation;
• Erik Backus, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Director of Construction Engineering at Clarkson University and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry