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#Post#: 1186--------------------------------------------------
The Canal Corporation's answer to leaving trees on embankments -
Flood Insurance
DIR By: Doug K
Date: June 29, 2020, 7:34 am
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It took awhile but one of the BIGGEST concerns that the ECNA has
had all along with this Unsafe Embankment work appears to be
taking shape... Mandatory Flood Insurance for some Erie Canal
Neighbors in the near term is now possible.
If you have taken any time to look over this new Earthen
Embankment Integrity Program (EEIP) draft Generic Environmental
Impact Study (dGEIS) you will see, for the first time, the
mention of Flood Insurance Rate Maps and Flood Insurance
Studies. Now this is in response to the list of 15 potential
impacts resulting from the New York State Canal Corporation EEIP
work.
HTML http://www.canals.ny.gov/Earthen_Embankment/Draft_Scoping_Document.pdf
As an Engineer for many years, I can tell you that this is one
of those "read between the lines" moments. If the NYSCC is
fixing these embankments, making them safer through tree removal
and reshaping the slopes, then the question is two-fold. What
happens during the clearing process & what happens after the
trees are removed?
Equally important to understand is the potential for a third
option: What if the community were to STOP these unsafe
embankments from being cleared?
Since these are unsafe Earthen Dams, then the answer is clear...
Flood Inundation Mapping WILL occur at some time and that is
spelled out in this draft as you can see below. It is in
response to the 5th "potential" impact this program may see as
it tackles the job of clearing 100 years of "poor maintenance".
Here's the first 5 of the 15 EEIP Impacts... note #5
[attachimg=1]
And the solution to each of these impacts is spelled out in a
later dGEIS section...
[attachimg=2]
Do you see those words: Flood Insurance Rate Maps & Flood
Insurance Studies? Now why would these two "remedies" make it
into the list is the bigger question. If dams are being worked
on there is a temporary FEMA Flood Zone rating that can be used
while REPAIR work is ongoing, and there are plenty of websites
that explain all this quite well. You can check out some of
these below.
HTML https://www.fema.gov/guidelines-and-standards-flood-risk-analysis-and-mapping
HTML https://www.fema.gov/engineers-surveyors-and-architects-frequently-asked-questions
HTML http://www.floodmaps.com/zones.htm
But the better question, in light of an active protest group
working to stop these safety repairs in the Rochester area,
would be this:
What if an Unsafe Canal Embankment Dam is NOT properly repaired
and allowed to remain covered with trees and a "live threat" to
the surrounding community for a potential flood?
The answer has now been made clear perhaps, by these statements
in the dGEIS. These canal dams, clear & safe ones or those that
are unsafe and covered with trees, may now start to see REAL
work on identifying the Flood Hazard Zones, Flood Inundation
Mapping and that information would eventually be passed along to
FEMA to see if residents living below those embankments will
need to have MANDATORY Flood Insurance through the National
Flood Insurance Plan
HTML https://www.fema.gov/national-flood-insurance-program
HTML https://www.usgs.gov/mission-areas/water-resources/science/flood-inundation-mapping-fim-program?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects
And it's not that hard to understand that living below SAFE dams
will reduce the need for a Flood Insurance, while living below
UNSAFE dams would require those homeowners to protect themselves
until the flood danger is mitigated.
So just a word of caution to those who think that trees should
stay on canal embankments because they are pretty or provide
shade.
There may be a COST to keeping embankment trees coming very
soon. The cost will be National flood insurance policies which
normally are 3-5 times higher than a normal homeowner policy.
Those costs will be paid by canal neighbors living BELOW these
tree-covered dams and ALSO in the miles of Flood Zones extending
beyond those embankments. It will hurt many financially, except
the US Government, who will be more than happy to sell a flood
insurance policy, after all the National Flood Plan is starving
for money right now.
And also remember that all those "guests" of the NYS Canal
Corporation, who are walking along the top of the embankments on
the Empire Trail, can protest all they want about keeping trees.
After all, it's not THEIR money that will pay for these
policies, it's those folks living below the trail, and these
unsafe embankments.
Unless of course the public & Erie Canal neighbors start to get
involved before it's too late, and it hits you where it hurts
most... your wallets
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