Sponsored by:
Senator PATRICK J. DIEGNAN, JR.
District 18 (Middlesex)
Senator LINDA R. GREENSTEIN
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Authorizes Office of Emergency Management to order lowering of reservoir levels prior to certain severe weather events.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning flood control and supplementing Title 58 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, rule or regulation to the contrary, when the Office of Emergency Management in the Division of State Police receives notice from the National Weather Service of a severe weather event expected to deposit three or more inches of rain in a single area within a 24-hour period, the office may order the water level of any reservoir in the State to be lowered by up to five feet prior to the severe weather event if such action is determined by the office to be in the general public interest and reasonably necessary to prevent or reduce the severity of flooding.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would authorize the Office of Emergency Management in the Division of State Police to order the water level of any reservoir to be lowered by up to five feet prior to a severe weather event if the office has received notice from the National Weather Service that the severe weather event is expected to deposit three or more inches of rain in a single area within a 24-hour period and the office has made a determination that lowering the reservoir level is in the general public interest and reasonably necessary to prevent or reduce the severity of flooding.