Passaic River - Flooding Problems

Flooding Problems

The Passaic River is known for chronic flooding problems during periods of heavy rainfall or snow-melt, especially where the Pompton River joins the Passaic River in Wayne, New Jersey. The two rivers form a sizable flood plain in this area. Building has been allowed in the flood plain and during extreme weather events that occur on a fairly regular basis, homes and businesses in the flood plain become flooded. A plan has been proposed to build the massive 20 mile (32 km) structure, the Passaic River Flood Tunnel, to divert the periodic flood waters southeastly into Newark Bay, thus relieving these flooding problems upstream. Some residents have accepted buy-outs from the federal government while the concept of constructing a flood tunnel is debated, however, many residents still live within the flood plain and flooding appears to be growing worse as the land in the Passaic River basin continues to be developed.

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