SCHENECTADY -- The state Department of Environmental Conservation has selected the consultants who will conduct its $500,000 flooding and ice jam study.
The DEC has contracted with Milone & MacBroom, a civil engineering and landscape architecture firm based in Cheshire, Conn., to look at the entire 147-mile main stem of the Mohawk River.
The purpose of the study, which was announced in March, is to look at what causes ice jams and flooding in high risk areas of the river. This will include looking at natural constrictions along with man-made obstacles, which could include bridges, dams or locks.
The DEC previously said the study is expected to be done in phases. This includes looking at all existing data on ice jams and floods, looking at how water moves through the river system, identifying any constrictions in the river and performing a hydraulic analysis of the river.
At the end, the study will produce a list of recommendations that DEC will look to act on.
"This study is meant to give a technical basis to understand the source of the problem and what can be done about it,” said Jim Tierney, the DEC’s deputy commissioner of the Office of Water Resources.
There isn’t a cap on the funding for the study, according to Tierney. He said $500,000 is an estimate based on the work and studies that already have been done on the river, but said more could be allocated toward the project to make sure it’s done right.
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(c) The Daily Gazette, 2018