The Susquehanna River Basin Commission is urging New York’s U.S. senators and congressmen to help secure federal funds to avert the March 1 shut-down of 18 stream gages and 16 rain gages in the southern tier. The gages generate data used by NOAA’s National Weather Service to predict when flooding will occur.

“$215,000 is all that is needed to keep the stream and rain gages going this year,” said SRBC Executive Director Paul Swartz. “To allow these very gages that help save lives and reduce millions in property damages to be shut down will undoubtedly increase risks to public health and safety.”

It was less than two years ago when Tropical Storm Lee devastated southern tier communities, including record flood levels in Binghamton, Owego, Vestal, Waverly, Rockdale and Sherburne. Throughout the NWS Binghamton forecast region that covers portions of New York and northern Pennsylvania, 25,000 homes were flooded and 120,000 residents were evacuated.

“Certainly the citizens and businesses who suffered so tremendously in September 2011 and in June 2006 must find it unthinkable that timely flood warnings could become a thing of the past.”

The stream and rain gages, which are maintained and operated by the U.S. Geological Survey, generate the real-time data needed by the NWS to forecast river levels and to issue more timely and accurate early flood warnings. That information is then used by emergency managers, local officials and citizens to make critical decisions to protect life and property.

With early flood warnings, businesses and residents living in flood-prone areas have time to secure their properties and get themselves to safer locations before flooding begins.

The current funding shortfall for gages first occurred in fiscal year 2011 with the loss of line-item funding in the federal budget for the Susquehanna Flood Forecast and Warning System, which covered the cost of the gages. Since then, funding for the gages has been uncertain from year to year, resulting in various state and federal agencies having to cover the shortfalls on an “ad hoc” basis.

 “A more viable, sustainable way of funding the USGS gages for the long term is absolutely critical. Without the real-time information from the stream and rain gages, communities including Binghamton, Oneonta, Corning, Elmira, Waverly and many more will be affected by the loss of advanced and timely flood warnings.

The Susquehanna River Basin, overall, is one of the most flood-prone areas in the country. More than 80 percent of the 1,400 plus municipalities in the Susquehanna basin include areas that are flood-prone.

Swartz said, “It is not a question of whether flooding will occur in the Susquehanna River Basin, but rather when it will occur and how severe it will be.”

2/11/2013