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River’s voice: Remove development to stop floods
Maya van Rossum is "the voice of the Delaware River." Lately, flood victims don't like what she has to say.
Since 1996, she has been the Delaware Riverkeeper, an advocate appointed by the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, an environmental nonprofit.
Blaming the New York reservoirs for flooding downriver is a "knee-jerk reaction," said van Rossum, who opposes year-round voids.
An environmental lawyer by training, she reached that conclusion after serving on two flood task forces - one created by New Jersey, the other by the Delaware River Basin Commission.
To mandate permanently lower reservoirs before scientists determine the value to flood mitigation would create "a false sense of security that will encourage more development in the floodplain," van Rossum said.
The wiser course is to create more open space in floodplains by buying out property owners and tearing down their homes, she said, so that nature can take its course but not a monumental toll. "Not only are we not going to stop flooding of the floodplain," she said, "we shouldn't."
Flood-prone communities should adopt more stringent land-use policies that prohibit new development in high-risk areas, van Rossum contends.
Taxpayers repeatedly foot the bill "so others can make the selfish decision to remain in sight of the river," said the Radnor Township resident, who has no water view.
