Schumer Seeks Funding to Protect Southern Tier Flood Warning System - Gages are a Key Component of Flood Warning System

Press Release

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced his support for a legislative provision that would boost funding critical to flood-monitoring infrastructure like stream gages. Specifically, the provision enables the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to work with the Susquehanna River Basin Commission to support flood forecasting, which is essential to predicting the severity of flooding in the Southern Tier.

The information gathered by the Commission, NOAA, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) at stream and rain gages throughout the Susquehanna River Basin in the Southern Tier provide critical information on flood conditions to local communities, which is critical in forecasting potentially deadly floods. It is also used for disaster planning and water quality monitoring. Without the combined efforts of the Commission and its federal partners, communities in the Southern Tier are put in greater danger of unanticipated floods. Flood warnings are a critical part of helping ensure that community leaders and first responders are best prepared to help minimize the loss of life and damage to property during flooding.

"The stream gages we have fought so hard to place and fund year-after-year played a critical role in alerting local authorities to the impending severity of the floods and allowed for the emergence response that helped avoid the loss of life. That's why we must support and expand this critical flood warning and flood-prevention system," said Schumer. "Timely and accurate flood forecasts are critical to protecting life and property and must be maintained. With Upstate New York reeling from back to back tropical storms, it's certainly not the time to starve the very organizations which provide flood forecasting of funding. I'm going to press hard to make sure our flood warning infrastructure is in top shape moving forward, helping to save lives and preventing even more devastating property damage."

The serious flooding experienced in the Southern Tier last month from Tropical Storms Irene and Lee serve as a reminder of the vital importance of the flood forecasts issued by the National Weather Service (NWS). Without the advanced warning afforded to basin communities, residents and businesses, New York would undoubtedly have experienced greater property damage from these flood events and possibly loss of life.

Data provided by stream and rain gages are critically important to the ability of the NWS to issue timely and accurate flood forecasts. With the loss of funding in FY2011 for stream gages provided through the Susquehanna Flood Forecast and Warning System appropriation, states in the River Basin again face uncertainty about how the operation and maintenance of stream gages will be funded in FY-2012 and beyond.

Schumer today announced his support for an additional $2,000,000 to NOAA's request for Advanced Hydrological Prediction Services for a total of $8,119,000 in the Commerce, Science and Justice appropriations bill. The legislation Schumer supports would direct the agency, working in consultation with the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, to enter into formal agreements with river commissions throughout the country for the purposes of leveraging stream and river data and information for coordinated flood forecasts. Initial priority for creating such agreements shall be given to Federal-interstate compact commissions given their unique congressional authority. River commissions provide critical data to NWS via a network of stream and rain gages which is used to create accurate and timely flood forecasts and warnings, thereby saving human lives.

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