When remnants of Tropical Storm Ida swept into Millburn, N.J.,—25 miles west of New York City—last week, the flooding that resulted was not a complete surprise. The 10 in. of rain that fell in New Jersey on Sept. 1, the heaviest in the New York metro area, pushed the Rahway River's west branch over its banks and into many of the prosperous town's homes and businesses.

巨大的倾盆大雨经常压倒新泽西州北部的河流，小溪和下水道。米尔伯恩镇副市长理查德·瓦瑟曼（Richard Wasserman）告诉当地电视台，该镇长期以来一直致力于基础设施和防洪。他说：“我们以前有过这个。这是一项持续的努力。”

In some ways, Millburn's experience is an example of the state's recurring flood-control frustrations: ineffective local government attempts to hold off damage from big storms with local resources; reliance on federal funds for slow-developing big regional fixes; and disagreements with affected towns about how to proceed that further slow the process.

See Rahway River watershed map below

现在,随着更险恶的天气tied to climate change, New Jersey finds itself at a crossroads.

"After roughly 50 years watching floods happen in N.J., it does get discouraging," Daniel J. Van Abs, a professor in Rutgers University's School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, wrote in an email. "But every once in a while an issue gains momentum at the right time, and funds flow. You just have to hope that it doesn't require a total catastrophe to get that momentum."

Pedestrians take in the cleanup at a key intersection in central Millburn, N.J., where a furniture store has put flooded items on the sidewalk.

本月的洪水加剧了这个问题。在新泽西州，造成27人死亡归因于洪水，大约一半涉及被洪水捕获的车辆。在新泽西州伊丽莎白的房屋中，有四人死亡。

州官员说，他们打算重新启动法律Stu河洪水风险管理的可行性dypreviously undertaken by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which proposed a series of projects to reduce flood risks.

“Events like Tropical Storm Ida make New Jersey’s need for climate and flood resilience solutions all the more clear and our strong state-federal partnership with the [Corps] is key to the design and implementation of mitigation projects,” said New Jersey Dept. of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette.

米尔本（Millburn）所在的埃塞克斯郡（Essex County）没有立即赢得联邦名称为灾区，担心需要获得联邦复苏和弹性资金的企业将无法获得。

"Many Millburn businesses and families were devastated by the flood waters and have lost so much. Many do not have the resources to rebuild without federal financial assistance,"said Heather Jenquine, executive director of the Millburn-Short Hills Chamber of Commerce.

A section of the Rahway River as it flows through a residential neighborhood in Millburn, N.J. The river had days earlier topped its banks.

Hurricanes Floyd in 1999 and Irene in 2011 both flooded areas of Millburn, Jenquine noted. "There have been ongoing discussions each time about how we are going to mitigate the risks to businesses and homes. This is becoming more urgent as these weather-related events are happening with increased frequencies...we can't let this continue to happen."

有关该问题的研究定期进行。

In 2013, the administration of then-Gov. Chris Christie (R) funded studies by six colleges and universities in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. They were geared toward storm-surge issues not being addressed by in-progress flood control studies by the Corps.

第二年，军团报告了其Rahway River Basin洪水风险管理可行性研究的发现，该研究主要集中在严重的洪水风险和先前的洪水袭击米尔本以南约8英里处的新泽西州克兰福德。新利luck该研究建议新利luck了许多替代方案，包括挖泥橙水库，拘留所的扩张，河道的渠道变化，南部山区保留地（与米尔伯恩相邻的公园和休闲区）以及保留区中河流的一部分。

In 2015, Millburn, with a population just over 20,000, was one of seven northern New Jersey towns along the Rahway River watershed to enter a pact to study and combat flooding. Millburn's township committee agreed to pay up to $10,000 for cost-sharing funding of surveys and studies.

Millburn also carried out its own engineering review of the flood situation. In 2018, consulting engineer Mott MacDonald, commenting on the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, reviewed the town's current flood control program. It noted that 2011's Hurricane Irene had dropped 8.92 in. of rain on nearby Newark over two days on already saturated ground. Peak stream flows during Hurricane Irene reached 8,620 cfs, surpassing those of Hurricane Floyd.

Although Millburn had installed earthen dikes, pump stations and storm sewers, Mott MacDonald stated that "flood control has limitations" and "does not eliminate all flooding."

Then 2019 turned out to be a critical year. After the Corps had outlined its alternatives involving channeling, deepening of detention basins and adding a dam in the South Mountain Preserve, the plans died on the table and the Corps sought to end its study.

The Essex News Daily, a county newspaper, said that one of the reasons was the“认为当地社区缺乏买入。”

The main sticking point, wrote the newspaper, was one Corps alternative plan—a dam in the South Mountain Reservation, which opponents claimed would irreversibly damage the wildlife reserve and local environment.

“我们要么必须将其拿走，要么就在保留区中建造某种水坝的建议，以应对拉赫韦河西部分支的洪水，” Maplewood市长维克·德鲁卡（Vic DeLuca）援引说。“反对在整个过程中一直是我们确实认识到下游洪水的严重性，尤其是在联盟，斯普林菲尔德和克兰福德，但我们不能为此牺牲保留。这就是我一直在争论的；这就是米尔本市长一直在争论的原因。”

Rutgers' Van Abs notes that modifying South Mountain Reservation would require state permission as a diversion of park land for non-park purposes. "That's a heavy lift," says Van Abs.

More broadly, the Corps' relies on state environmental officials to handle critical functions, such as understanding what local communities want and will support, says Van Abs. But the New Jersey Dept. of Environmental Planning lacks resources for long-range flood control planning, he says, "especially when it may require a decade or two of concerted effort."

范阿布说，军团实质上是在“黑匣子，突然出来或开会的”中工作。

With the Corps unready to meet all local concerns, the state lacked the resources to manage a decades-long flood control effort, says Van Abs, who himself has called for the formation of regional flood control authorities to take over and "think small," as the most realistic way of paring flood damage.

How Millburn officials now see the town's flood-control future isn't clear. Town officials couldn't be reached immediately to discuss the reported opposition to the Corps proposals or the long-range future of flood control.

这些官员很忙。到9月4日，米尔伯恩市官员报告说，消防部门正在通过670个呼吁援助以将水从地下抽水的积压工作，并努力将联邦灾难指定的损害记录为另一个问题。

在对当地电视记者的讲话中，副市长瓦瑟曼（Wasserman）确实谈到了米尔伯恩（Millburn）长期的洪水控制努力及其限制。他说：“当这么多的水变得如此之快……我不确定是否有答案。如果10英寸，您知道，这很快就会发生。”

Rahway河长24英里，有四个分支，并提供许多目的，包括供水以及野生动植物的栖息地和娱乐场所，在其流过的城镇和县。地图：由拉威河流域协会提供