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-~ -- - ~ ~ -' == . ­ ... ..----,._-...... -...- ..... -. . ... - SECTION = ~ ~ --.-_.. --­ ==--:===.===.. - . .- ...... ::---J- '=='.. _-.. - * --== -_.­ =-_.-======' --=.. ,. === : --=. .: === ­==- - -.­ - . . ~ , . ---- ~ ~ . -" ·F - . · _.-- - - .....------..------.- - ..- - .-.~. ~- - - - · ...... - ..... ­ , --.- -. THURSDAY F2 / TELEVISION - -- .- -,-,- · ._._-,--...... - -_ .. -­ F6-7/ COMICS - - - APRIL 16,1987 / The rise and fall of,th

By SUSANNE DOWDEN dikes, reservoirs, channels, tunnels and wetlands Couratit Staff Writer TAMING THIS MIGHTY WATERWAY that protect homes and businesses. steady rain began to fall the evening And to supplement these controls, a more sophis­ of March 30, and hydrologists at the ticated warning system is being readied to alert Northeast River Forecast Center in residents of impending floods. Bloomfield knew within a few hours HAS BEEN A ,DIFFICULT CHALLENGE 'Every major flood in the past century has that southern New England was in prompted construction of flood-control structures. trouble. The destruction caused by the 1936 and 1938 floods "We knew it could be a long • • led to the building of 13 large dams along tributar­ storm," hydrologist Len Mazarowski said. "Tem­ study rivers and groundwater, could determine England paid off last week as thousands of people ies in the upper river basin by the Army Corps of peratures were above freezing.... With snow-melt roughly how high the Connecticut River would get were protected from the raging waters. Engineers in the 1940s and 1950s. and the probability of rain, we knew there was a and when it was likely to crest, revising their After the 1955 flood caused by two hurricanes, problem Tuesday - the beginning of a flood." forecasts every six hours - and sometimes more A mighty river the corps built three more dams in northwestern frequently. The Connecticut River has been flooding and Connecticut. The center, a division of the National Weather "That was a tremendous flood, one of the worse in Service, immediately began around-the-clock oper- "We're tired," Mazarowski said last week, after destroying lives and property periodically since Connecticut settlers started keeping records in Connecticut history,'! said Michael Coogan, a corps ations, processing information gathered from a more than a week of 12-hour shifts. "Our machines' spokesman. network of electrQnic rain and stream gauges, are near smoke-out, and the people are near burn­ 1635. The river begins as a stream about a mile l from the Canadian border in and is The 16 corps dams are capable of holding back a volunteer observers and U.S. Army Corps of Engi­ out." total of 177 billion gallons of water, Coogan said. neers dams throughout New England. fed by dozens of smaller rivers and brooks as it The exhaustive monitoring of the rain and a vast winds for 409 miles through New England. With the constant flow of data, hydrologists, who network of flood-control devices throughout New Along the way lies a complex system of dams, See Agencies, Page F3 I

'FLOOD-CONTROL MEASURES THE CONNECTICUT RIVER There are 32 Soil'CoRSerYation Service flood­ WATERSHED control dams on smaller tributarl_ in the ,nnecticut River watershed.

\ . THese unmanned dams are usually ­ -~ dry but in flood time hold back excess J water. Tiley have fixed openings and discharge only enough water to meet MAINE downstream channel capacity. r ~

, \ ( There are 16 U.S. Anny Corps of En"""" flood­ control dams on main tributari_ of the Connecticut River. • Most of these larger dams are manned and ) FLOOD c=:. have controll,able outlets. Th,ey are usually dry. ~---I_I_••~.~, .-:n:::. In.flaad..time...tbev.send_cootinuaus level ~ ~~~__~~__~r ...... ·..,-.:. "'".•••.,,_....._-~-_...... _. ------'"1 dry but in flood time hold back excess water. Tt'e'y have fixed openings and dischlrrge, only enough water to meet downstream channel capacity. r ~ VERMONT ( There are 16 U.S. Anny Corps of Enpneen flood· control dams on main tributaries of the Connecticut River. • Most of these larger dams are manned and ) have controllable outlets. They are usually dry. In flood time, they send continuous level readings to the Corps Reservoir Control Center in Waltham, Mass. Those readings, combined with Northeast River Forecast Center predictions, determine amounts of water to be l discharged. NEW YORK . Not all dam. are for flood control. Many other apncles maintain da.... for other purpo.... • The Stevenson Dam on the Housatonic River, for example, I generates electricity. The Saville Dam on the forms the Barkhamsted Reservoir and is designed to provide water supply. • Other measures include preserving major natural water-storage areas and existing wetlands; acquiring open lands, encouraging farming to decrease susceptibility to flooding, flood-proofing existing structures, and improving

I 30 mil.. , warning systems and emergency responses. LONG ISLAND SOUND

DOWNSTREAM STRUCTURES IN BUILT·UP AREAS PROVIDE ADDITIONAL PROTECTION

• The has been diverted into a tunnel as it goes through Hartford on its way to join the Dikes and tunnels Connecticut River. It normally flows by gravity. But in flood time, when its outlet is underwater, Channel alterations pumps help to move the water. HARTFORD,

• Trout Jlrook IrI W4lSt Hartford was stfalghtMeOatld • Dikes haY,e been buirt along the Connecticut River at Chicopee, ~ to )nctease·~ al'ld Holyoke and Springfield, Mass., and at East Hartford and Hartford. reduce,resl8t8nCe, ~I,dng "',cha~,...fiICI8nt

SOURCE: State Department of Environmental Protection, Water Resources Unit, Flood Manjlgement Section Phil Lohman I The Hartford Courant ,{ ~ ------, '\­ THE HARTFORD COURANT: Thursday, April 16, 1987 F3 Agencies mold landscape to tame Connecticut River Continned from Page Fl The dams, which usually are built from a. combination of soil, gravel and rocks, range in capacity from 482 million gallons to more than 31 billion gallons, Coogan said.' Con­ crete spillways are used to control how much water is released, he said. . Corps officials estimate that three dams in Connecticut - the Mad Riv­ er and Sucker Brook dams, both in Winchester, and the Colebrook River dam in Colebrook - have prevented nearly $30 million worth of damage downstream since they were built in the 1960s. Most corps dams in New England have operators who call the River ForecastCenter every morning with reservoir levels, local weather and daily rainfall data, Mazarowski said. During the recent storm, several reservoirs in northern New England reached their capacity {or the first time since they were built, Coogan said. More water had to be released from the reservoirs to relieve pres­ sure on those dams, but the excess' water did not reach Connecticut un­ til after the river had begun to re­ cede. Throughout the rainy week, infor­ mation traveled fast and furiously between the River Forecast Center and the corps' reservoir-control cen­ ter in Waltham, Mass. Using a com­ puter model that takes into account predicted rainfall and reservoir lev­ , els, corps officials could decide how much water could be released safely from its dams. "It becomes a dog chasing its tail, hopefully with a good conclusion," Mazarowski said of the information relay. Larger towns along the river, such as Hartford, East Hartford and Springfield, receive further protec­ tion from dikes built by the·corps. The East Hartford dike, built in 1949, runs along 75 percent of the town's riverfront, said William Ken­ nedy, town director of public works. The 39-foot-high concrete structure can keep the town dry for a river U.S. Army depth of up to 26 feet. During the flood of 1936, the Park River, in foreground, Hartford under water, including most of Bushnell Park, at ground and a network of dikes was built along the Con­ "Any development in the extreme necticut River to prevent another disaster. north and south end [of East Hart­ combined with the Connecticut River to put a fifth of left. The Park River SUbsequently was diverted under- ford] is above 26 feet," Kennedy said. When the river crested last thing that is built and every wetland usefUl if residents know what to do week at 26 feet, East Hartford had that is filled in that triangular slice when a storm is coming. The SolI only minor flooding problems. of the state affects river levels. Conservation Service has received Without the dikes, Kennedy said, When asphalt and buildings cover an $18,000 federal grant to help most of the development along the land, less water goes into the ground homeowners who live near the river riverfront could not exist. and more runoff heads for the near­ prepare for flooding. Aside from the corps' large dams est streams. A subdivision that fills Too often, officials say, homeown­ and dikes, the Soil Conservation in wetlands in South Windsor, for ers do not realize how to protect Service, a division of the U.S. De­ instance, can raise the level of the their possessions from rising waters. partment of Agriculture, has spon­ Podunk River, dump more water "People wait until it gets to an eleva­ sored several smaller projects along into the Connecticut River and wors­ tion of 13 feet and just drive away," flood-prone tributaries. en the flooding in Middletown. Christensen said. Onil! mil!thntl n~ tn Ir_n wAtil!r WiI!tJAnd!l whil!n lil!ft in thil!ir nAt.lI­ Conservation service workers '-Ioraj 15 aDOve ~tI leet," 1\.enneay said. When the river crested last thing that is built and every wetland useful if residents know what to do week at 26 feet, East Hartford had that is filled in that triangular slice when a storm is coming. The SOlI only minor flooding problems. of the state affects river levels. Conservation Service has received Without the dikes, Kennedy said, When asphalt and buildings cover an $18,000 federal grant to help most of the development along the land, less water goes into the ground homeowners who live near the river riverfront could not exist. and more runoff heads for the near­ prepare for flooding. Aside from the corps' large dams est streams. A subdivision that fills Too often, officials say, homeown­ and dikes, the Soil Conservation in wetlands in South Windsor, for ers do not realize how to protect Service, a division of the U.S. De­ instance, can raise the level of the their possessions from rising waters. partment of Agriculture, has spon­ Podunk River, dump more water "People wait until it gets to an eleva­ sored several smaller projects along into the Connecticut River and wors­ tion of 13 feet and just drive away," flood-prone tributaries. en the flooding in Middletown. Christensen said. One method used to keep water Wetla~ds, when left in their natu­ Conservation service workers levels under control is to divert the ral state, serve as giant sponges to plan to do "flood audits" of about 50 water underground. The Park River, absorb excess water. homes along the river to explain which once wended its way through In 1957, the DEP began more what to do when the water reaches a Hartford, now flows mostly under­ stringently monitoring dumping and certain height. The suggestions ground. . development along the river's flood would be as simple as wrapping ap­ Dqring the 1936 flood, the Con­ plains. Inspectors have found viola­ pliances in plastic bags and moving necticut and Park rivers combined tions of state regulations ranging carpets to the second floor, Christen­ to put a fifth of Hartford under wa­ from illegal building and dumping sen said. "It sounds simple, but pe0­ ter. Flooding along the Park became piles of construction and demolition ple don't think of it," he said. steadily worse as developme~t in­ debris to disposal of household One common psychological effect creased and produced more runoff. waste. of flooding is that people can grad­ During the late 1970s, the corps "We're trying to stress limitation ually lose their concern and often do channeled the river underground, of development in natural storage not realize that it can happen again encasing it in concrete and rerouting areas," Warner said. "We want to soon, Christensen said. it under city streets to the Connecti­ make sure municipalities keep "The nice thing about human na­ cut River. projects well-maintained." ture is that .you forget about disas­ West Hartford's Trout Brook t~rs," he said. "As time passes, you stayed above ground, but much of it A new wamine system get the feeling it's not going to hap­ was turned into a concrete trough. When the dams, dikes, tunnels, pen again/' The brook used to flood more than wetlands and other flood-control Despite the millions of dollars 200 homes during heavy rain, and techniques fail, Connecticut resi­ spent on flood-control and monitor­ state Department of Environmental dents in low-lying areas still have an ing systems, flooding is inevitable. "It's going to keep flooding," Protection officials estimated it advantage: It can take several days Tony Dugal/Special to The Courant caused an average of $233,000 in for flood waters from New Hamp­ Christensen said. "We're trying to property damage each year. shire and Vermont to reach the flood decrease the impact." The COlIDecticut River overwhelms homes in .Haddam during last week's flooding. That changed during a $12.2 mil­ plains of Middletown, Christensen - I ~ lion project initiated by the DEP and said. The sooner residents know completed in 1985. In addition to about impending floods, the more j , paving the brook's channel, five they can do to protect themselves. bridges were rebuilt and five new State, federal and local officials ponds created to store water. joined forces several years ago to In response to aesthetic concerns, develop a statewide, electroIJic 1,500 trees were planted along its flood-warning system. The system, banks, and the concrete was dyed knowq as ASERT - Automated brown to resemble stone. . Statewide Evaluation in Real Time Advances in engineering and flood - consists of more than 20 rain and control have kept storms like this stream gauges around the state. month's from creating major floods, When it is completed, the system but man's ability to control nature in should have 85 rain gauges and 40 this manner is limited. stream gauges. "There aren't many opportunities The gauges send electronic signals to make big changes in how much to a transfer station when a millime­ water is going to come down," state ter of rain has fallen. These signals' Conservationist Philip H. Christen­ are fed into computers at the DEP sen said. "We've got to live with water resource office in Hartford what we've got." and the River Forecast Center. The last major dam affecting the OfficialS estimate that the addi­ Connecticut River - Sucker Brook tional warning time can reduce in Winchester - was completed in flood-related deaths by 75 percent 1971, and officials agree there are no and cut residential property damage major dams in the river's future. The by 10 percent to 35 percent. problem now is how to cope with The ASERT system is still being flooding and finding other ways to installed and did not play a major limit runoff into the river. role in forecasting this month's One of the original flood-control storm. Even when it does become devices - wetlands - is getting fully functional in several years, Ma­ renewed attention. These swampy zarowski said, about 50 weather ob­ lands were the only defense against servers will remain a vital link in'the flooding before dams were built, act­ communication network. ing as natural water-storage areas. These are residents from around They still provide important flood southern New England who report protection. data on rainfall levels during "That's why we want to protect storms. wetlands," said Benjamin Warner, "They're actually weather nuts­ director of the DEP's water re- people who are interested in the