Upper Susquehanna River Basin Comprehensive Flood Damage Reduction Feasibility Study
Within New York, the Upper Susquehanna River Basin (USRB), excluding the Chemung River watershed, drains approximately 4,520 square miles in the south central part of the state. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has constructed 20 flood risk management projects in the USRB dating back to 1938.
USACE and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the study sponsor, planned to evaluate many of these projects under USACE’s feasibility study process. The study was initiated in summer 2016 under a resolution of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the U.S. House of Representatives, adopted Sept. 24, 2008, for the Upper Susquehanna River Basin, New York.
The feasibility study intent is to identify the current risk for flooding and propose ways to minimize the impact from flood events, preliminarily determine environmental and economic impact from various levels of flooding, and suggest structural and non-structural alternatives that could help minimize damage to life and property.
The feasibility study involved updating existing hydrologic and hydraulic models of the USRB, defining levels of protection at the existing levee/floodwall projects, and determining preliminary economic benefits for the existing levees/floodwalls.
One flood risk management project location was to be chosen by the Project Delivery Team; however, no projects were found to be in the federal interest.