My Newspaper Opinion Column Article: How We Can Combat Flooding

My op-ed article was published in today's edition of the Record, the newspaper for northern New Jersey.

The first paragraph reads "WHEN WE WITNESS the devastating floods caused by recent heavy rains, it's easy to assume that New Jersey has done little to mitigate the effects of stormwater runoff. While much needs to be done to correct problems in older, heavily settled areas of the state that have been vulnerable to flooding, it is important to note that New Jersey is perhaps the most progressive state in mandating adequate stormwater management for new development."

The article continues onto addressing the need for utilization of the digital watershed model to assess the overall result of all proposed developments, rainwater harvesting and open space storage to mitigate the effects of earlier developments, and doubling efforts to secure federal funding in order to move ahead with the effective flood control projects that are already on the drawing boards.

Nor'easter of 2007: The Green Brook Flood Control Project

A front page article titled "A missing line of defense vs. floods" appeared in today (Sunday)'s Star Ledger, the leading newspaper of New Jersey. The primary point of the article was that the borough of Bound Brook, located at the downstream end of the flood control project, was still flooded this time because the planned levee/floodwall, due to lack of federal funding, was only partially constructed.

In the last section of the article about consequences of the entire planned project, I was quoted as saying "You want to control the source" of the flood water when discussing necessity of the initially planned, but later scrapped, two upstream flood control detention basins.

Image Credit: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

(My presentation contains additional info on the Green Brook project as well as other measures of urban flood management.)

Nor'easter of 2007: Flooding of Millstone River at Blackwells Mills Road

In the deadly nor'easter, two to nine inches of rain fell in New Jersey from April 14 to April 16, 2007, causing widespread flooding. On Monday, April 16, I tried every possible road but I was not able to reach my workplace.

I took the photo to the left on Tuesday, April 17 around 5:00 p.m., after the flood peak had already passed the night before. I was standing on the flooded River Road (Rt. 533) looking across the Millstone River. Note the river water level was still in contact with the lower bridge deck.

My album contains additional photos of the flooding.

The Duck Pond to Help Healing in the Aftermath of Virginia Tech Massacre

An open water in the tree-lined area of the campus, the Duck Pond would be a quiet, private place for reflection and healing in the days and months to come.

The lake, or pond, was built near Solitude in the summer of 1937. The lake is fed by two small creeks. The Stroubles Creek was culverted into an underground tunnel when the University built the drill field. The spring at Solitude is a historic groundwater resource of the area.

The Solitude House is Virginia Tech's oldest building, and it marks the site of the Draper Meadow Settlement and massacre of 1755.

I was at Virginia Tech only once more than ten years ago, and I have almost forgot about the Drill Field and Duck Pond. The tragic event yesterday brought back my visual and emotional memories.

VT, you go well!

Photo credit: Virginia Tech University Relations

Three Papers to be Presented at World Environmental & Water Resources Congress

I will present three papers at the upcoming ASCE/EWRI Congress, May 15-19, 2007, Tampa, Florida. Titles of the papers are: (1) Performance of Retrofitted Stormwater Extended Detention Wetlands, (2) Effect of Particle Size on Difference between TSS and SSC Measurements, and (3) Research to Support Certification of TSS Removal Efficiency of Stormwater Manufactured Treatment Devices. All are related to stormwater and urban watershed management.

(Click here for my presentation on TSS vs. SSC measurements.)