A River Runs Through It

Norman Maclean said "eventually all things merge into one, and a river runs through it". In this case, the river was the Passaic.

The Passaic River floods at a depth of seven feet. This week, the Passaic River was twelve. The flooding has left thousands of homes underwater. Watching the images of people escaping their Little Falls homes by boat should be a reminder to our politicians that green space needs to be protected now. How much are we going to spend on the numerous “state of emergencies” caused by floods before we realize that rivers like the Passaic are the watershed of our highlands? Approximately, 1,000 square miles of runoff flows from Northwest New Jersey into rivers like the Passaic.

New Jersey, in an effort to increase local town and county tax revenues, has permitted vast amounts of construction – homes, malls, commercial buildings, parking lots, and roads- in the New Jersey highland area. This has caused an increase in the rain and snow run-off into our small rivers and tributaries. Further, the water flows over more pavement and concrete – making our creeks, rivers, and oceans dirtier than ever. The soil and plant-life that normally cleanses the water naturally is no longer there.

We must preserve what remains of our highlands and open green spaces. To learn more and do your part, click here.

Sadly, the flooding isn’t going to get better, but it can get worse. It is time to protect our highlands.

Time to Build an Ark (...or Buy a Good Umbrella)

Hoboken hates rain. It's infrastructure, roads and sewer lines originally built on wetland, were never intended to house 40,000 plus people in 5 story condos. There is little drainage (i.e. green space), and when the river is at high tide (see tide chart to the right), there is no place for the water to go. That is the reason the water table is so high in the west end that I could kayak to Fiores.

To make matters worse, there was another article in this week's Reporter about the cost of fixing the rotting piers - currently projected to be 12 million dollars. Couldn't anyone have foreseen the inevitable collapse of piers built on the wooden pylons from 10o years ago? The erosion from rain only exacerbates the problems with our piers.

I know we don't live in Seattle, but the windy rains we get living next to the big river are strong enough that you would think Hobokenites would invest in one very important item - a good, strong umbrella. Nothing has been funnier in the last few days than watching people huddle under their wonky chinatown special, metal poking out in all directions. People, buy a good umbrella! It is worth investing in quality materials that last a long time. Do you hear that, Mayor?