CONGRESS APPROVES BILL THAT WILL PROTECT
SOUTHERN QUEENS FROM COASTAL STORMS
BY BILL PARRY
The 2020 Water Resource
Development Act (WRDA)
passed by Congress holds key
provisions to protect the Rockaways
and coastal communities
of southern Queens.
The sweeping measure
includes authorization of the
East Rockaway to Rockaway
Inlet and Jamaica Bay Sandy
Reformulation Project,
which will give authority to
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
to complete initial
construction of the project
at full federal expense. It
will also authorize maintenance
of the project once
construction is complete.
Following a push from New
York Senators Charles Schumer
and Kirsten Gillibrand,
the language ensures that if
money runs out before the
construction is complete, the
Corps can finish construction
without having to seek a cost
share from a local sponsor.
“In order to protect our
communities from flooding,
preserve our shorelines, and
restore New York’s precious
water ecosystems, it is imperative
that we properly rehabilitate
our invaluable resources
through the Water Resources
Development Act every year,”
Schumer said, adding that
restoring the Jamaica Bay
ecosystem and hurricane and
storm risk reduction for Howard
Beach were vital.
Advocates such as Paul
Galley of Hudson Riverkepper
say the passage of the WRDA
is a big step forward in the
region’s effort to “get out in
front” of the threats posed by
climate change.
“This legislation will guide
the federal government towards
a more comprehensive
and holistic climate solutions,
incorporating a new focus
on ecological restoration and
greater emphasis on community
engagement,” Galley
said.
“The passage of WRDA is
a historic achievement that
shows impressive progress
in how the Army Corps will
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.20 COM | JAN. 8-JAN. 14, 2021
meet some of the greatest climate
challenges we face as a
nation,” Waterfront Alliance
President and CEO Cortney
Worrall said. “Building our
way out of flooding and ignoring
key aspects of climate
change is no longer tenable.
This bill reflects that reality
better than any previous, related
legislation.”
Construction of the $336
coastal resiliency project
spanning from Far Rockaway
to Neponsit is part of the Army
Corps-led efforts to reduce the
flood risk along the Atlantic
coast and along Jamaica Bay.
The project consists of a reinforced
dune system designed
to block storm surge and new
extended tapered groins, jettylike
structures extending out
into the ocean intended to trap
sand and reduce beach erosion
to maintain a natural buffer
between the Atlantic and
coastal communities.
That project got underway
in late October on the eighth
anniversary of Superstorm
Sandy, which damaged or destroyed
more than 1,000 structures
by storm surge.
“This project has never
been more necessary and will
bring much-needed resiliency
infrastructure to our district,”
Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer
Amato said. “By starting
the reinforcement of our
coastal defense against the ever
worsening effects of climate
change, I am hopeful that this
is the beginning of more solid
measures we can take.”
State Senator Joseph Addabbo
agreed that the coastal
resiliency project would help
protect those communities
from coastal flooding and
beach erosion.
Congress approves legislation that includes critical provisions for
the Rockaways. Courtesy of the mayor’s offi ce
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