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FACT SHEET-Millstone River Basin, NJ

Flood Damage Reduction & Ecosystem Restoration Study

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District
Published Jan. 8, 2024

DESCRIPTION: The study area is the Millstone River Basin. The Basin is located in north-central New Jersey, halfway between Philadelphia and New York City. The Basin includes the Millstone River and its major tributaries. It encompasses parts of five New Jersey counties: Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Hunterdon, and Somerset. The 238-square mile Basin is a major tributary of the Raritan River. Stony Brook, which is the largest tributary of the Millstone River, is located near Princeton Township, New Jersey. Flooding in the Millstone River Basin occurs as the result of intense thunderstorms, northeasters, and hurricanes. These storms can deposit large amounts of precipitation in the watershed, producing significant runoff and headwater flooding of the low-lying and relatively flat floodplain. The Borough of Manville, located at the confluence of two rivers, is subject to coincident backwater flooding from the Raritan River and headwater flooding from the Millstone River and Royce Brook. The largest flood events occurred during Hurricane Doria in August 1971, Tropical Storm Floyd in September 1999, the April 2007 Nor’easter, and Irene in August 2011.

 

AUTHORIZATION: The study effort is authorized by U.S. House of Representatives Resolution, Docket 2611 dated August 5, 1999 (Millstone River) and Section 729 of the WRDA of 1986 (Stony Brook).

 

STATUS: In response to the flooding from Tropical Storm Floyd in 1999, Congress funded the Corps to conduct a reconnaissance study of the Millstone River Basin. In September 2000, the Corps issued a favorable reconnaissance report recommending that a feasibility study be conducted to develop flood damage reduction and ecosystem restoration alternatives in the Millstone River Basin. The State of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection concurred with the Corps reconnaissance study recommendations and signed a Feasibility Cost Sharing Agreement (FCSA) on March 14, 2002 to cost share the feasibility study. Work completed to date on the feasibility study includes a topographic survey and mapping, initial baseline studies, a structure inventory, and development of an existing and future unimproved conditions hydrology and hydraulics model. Alternatives that include levees & floodwalls, channelization, and a non-structural plan have been evaluated to include plans, costs and economics analysis. There are no economically justified plans. Results were provided to NJDEP (Local Sponsor) and were released to the local community in December 2014. The feasibility study negative report was released in November 2016.

 

 

CONTACT:

 

Mr. Alek Petersen

Project Manager

P:  (917) 790-8624

E-mail: Aleksander.J.Petersen@usace.army.mil

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District

Programs and Project Management Division  

 26 Federal Plaza

 New York, NY 10278

 

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS: NJ-07,NJ-12Current as of February 2018