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FACT SHEET-Lower Saddle River, NJ

Flood Risk Management Project

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District
Published Jan. 25, 2024

Description: Flooding occurs in the lower Saddle River basin area along the Saddle River and Sprout Brook in the municipalities of Garfield, Wallington, South Hackensack, Lodi, Saddle Brook, Rochelle Park, Paramus, and Fair Lawn, New Jersey. The area has experienced significant flooding in May 1968, September 1971, August 1973, November 1977, May 1979, April 1984, September 1999, and April 2007. Tropical Storm Floyd in September 1999 devastated the Lower Saddle River Basin, and severe damage was incurred in April 2007.  The study area also experienced flooding from Hurricane Ida in September 2021.

The authorized project consists of channel modifications along 5.2 miles of the lower reaches of the Saddle River and 1.7 miles of the lower reaches of Sprout Brook. A total of 12 bridges would be modified in order to accommodate a deeper channel. In addition, fish and wildlife measures would also be included for mitigation of potential adverse environmental impacts and improvement of aquatic habitat. The project will provide protection up to a 150-year flood event with a benefit-to-cost ratio of 1.6:1.

Authorizations: Congress authorized the Lower Saddle River Flood Protection Project under Section 401 (a) of the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 (Public Law 99-662).

Status: In response to the flooding from Tropical Storm Floyd in 1999, local interests requested that efforts to implement a plan be resumed. The Corps and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) executed a design agreement in February 2005 for the Limited Reevaluation Report (LRR) to update the economics, hydrology and hydraulics, and design of the current authorized project at a cost estimate of $2,000,000.  In 2006, surveys, design and modeling analysis of the Lower Saddle River and Sprout Brook were initiated. In 2007 and 2008, existing conditions hydraulics and hydrodynamics work was completed, as well as an initial reassessment of the existing environmental documentation. In 2022, team is preparing a letter report for NJDEP recommending more in depth analyses due to change in existing conditions in past decade or so.  The H&H, design, modeling, economic analysis, cost, and environmental investigation will need to be updated.  Another agreement will be required with the non-Federal sponsor to start a General Reevaluation Report.

 

 

CONTACT:

 

Ms. Rifat Salim
Project Manager
P: (917) 790-8215
Email:  Rifat.salim@usace.army.mil
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS: NJ-05, NJ-09