An $80 million flood mitigation plan looking to channelize portions of the Mamaroneck and Sheldrake rivers cleared another major hurdle last week after receiving the green light from a panel of federal regulators.
According to Mamaroneck Village Manager Richard Slingerland—who attended a forum last week in Washington, D.C., to discuss the project with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials and state and federal lawmakers—following a recent round of approvals, the plan is ready to be finalized.
“We all went through the plan and talked about alternatives,” Slingerland said. “We determined it was the ‘sweet spot’ plan… it maximized the cost-benefit ratio.”
The recent sign-offs come from the Army Corps’ Civil Works Review Board, which consists of Army Corps senior officers and other federal staffers, in addition to the Government Accountability Office.
Also in attendance, according to village of Mamaroneck Mayor Norman Rosenblum, a Republican, was U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel, a Democrat, as well as a representative from U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer’s office, both speaking in support of the project.
From here, Slingerland said the Army Corps’ plan will move forward to state agencies who will give the final authorization on whether the project can proceed.
Of the plan’s $80 million price tag, the village would foot $8 million to $10 million while the rest of the cost will be split between the state, federal and county governments.
While the federal government would foot 65 percent of the bill, the remaining 35 percent would be shared between the state, county and village.
Specifically, this iteration of the Army Corps’ flood plan—which was chosen amongst several more expensive alternatives—would deepen and widen portions of the Mamaroneck and Sheldrake rivers in addition to constructing 7,500 feet of concrete retaining wall.
The most recent approvals of the plan come after scrutiny from both state and local regulators this past summer that deemed the project noncompliant with the village of Mamaroneck’s Local Waterfront Revitalization Program.
After revisions, however, language in the plan was eventually revised and received approval by the New York state Department of State.
Recent approvals and support of the plan mark a second coming of a previous flood mitigation effort dating back to the 1980s when a similar proposal from the Army Corps was sidelined due to lack of support from nonfederal partners.
According to the Army Corps, the plan could decrease first-floor flooding in the village’s flood plain by 86 percent, and could significantly minimize the impact of storms like those seen in 2007, which incurred a total of $50 million in damage.
Despite criticism from local environmental overseers, namely members of the village Harbor & Coastal Zone Management Commission, which has criticized the project’s reliance on hard structural engineering that could adversely impact local habitats, the project has seen broad bipartisan support.
Trustee Victor Tafur, a Democrat, said the project is part of what spurred his first-ever political run this past November. “This was a decisive factor for me to run,” Tafur said. “I’m fully supportive…. Now the goal is to get it finalized.”
Following these key sign-offs from senior members of the Army Corps and federal overseers, Rosenblum said he expects the corps to issue a final report to the village on the project sometime in July, at which point the project must then secure the necessary congressional approval for funding.
