My Email to the Army Corp of Engineers Managing the Francis E. Walter Dam Usage Re-Evaluation

It’s typical that the tone of a project is set at the beginning. Projects can be set out in an open fashion where affected parties feel they are being included and that their input is valued; or, projects can have a hidden agenda where information is dribbled out with the hope that the project has enough momentum that by the time affected folks figure out what’s going on, it’s too late to change course. Unfortunately, this project appears to be of the latter type.

 Although the official ‘first’ meeting announcement states: ‘The study will focus primarily on flood risk management, with consideration to environmental, water supply, water quality, and recreation, to identify possible improvements to the existing structure, infrastructure, and operations that will support the current and future demands within the region. The study will include public comment opportunities and public meetings, which will be announced on this webpage and through other avenues.‘ If one understands that there is an existing plan to address all these concerns, the reaction might be ‘Good. Let’s see if we can make things better’. Then the fact that the NYC DEP is a co-host of the meeting starts to nag a bit. Whose idea of ‘make things better’ is being addressed? Certainly the NYC DEP can’t really be invested in helping move forward a plan that is primarily addressing Pennsylvania concerns.  Then one stumbles upon some unsettling details.

1.4 million dollars has already been spent on an evaluation of the waterflow into the Delaware and Lehigh basin. It appears that a solution to a NYC water problem involves adding a usage to the current plan that gives de facto control of the Lehigh River to the NYC water authority. Then, the first meeting is scheduled so that if constituents are interested in putting this meeting in front of their elected officials, they will need to try to do it during a holiday period when offices are closed and contact is difficult. The optics here are not good.

The way this project is starting is preparing us do dig in our heels. If the Lehigh is to be used as part of a solution to a larger problem, then the whole system affecting the problem should be up for discussion - including the Hudson and East Rivers, the state of the NYC water system, and any other ancillary subsystems potentially impinging on the problem. Assuming as a going-in position that the Lehigh and the dam at its headwaters are ‘improved’ by adding a usage benefiting NYC and causing our local community harm is a non-starter. 

Carbon and Lehigh Counties love their river. There has been much invested in bringing it back from when it ran black and orange with coal mine effluence. We are willing to be an eager partner in managing this watershed for the greater good; but we’re not going to destroy the gains that have been made on the Lehigh for the benefit of NYC. The fact that we had to discover what is going on in the background almost by accident makes us wonder if our interests are really being considered.  So, how do you want this project to continue? Our community would rather be a partner than an adversary; but we’ll be involved either way.