Sherrill Advances Critical Projects to Prevent Flooding in New Jersey

WASHINGTON, DC — Representative Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) secured key provisions in the biannual Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) that will help ensure towns across New Jersey have support from the federal government to tackle key water and infrastructure issues — including mitigating flooding and preparing for extreme weather events.

“We’re no strangers to flooding in the Garden State. Storm after storm, New Jersey families and businesses have to face the devastating impact of major flood events. That’s why, since first taking office, I have been focused on working with the community to come up with both short and long-term solutions to build climate-resilient infrastructure that will protect our state from flooding. Each of the projects we fought for in this year’s WRDA will advance efforts to keep families safe from flooding and make long-overdue infrastructure upgrades,” said Rep. Sherrill.

WRDA authorizes funding for locally-driven projects and studies led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) to tackle water resource challenges across the country. Rep. Sherrill worked with the community and local stakeholders to secure critical projects and studies to address flooding caused by major rivers that flow through northern New Jersey. The Congresswoman’s requests also included proposed policy changes that would improve access to flood mitigation resources. WRDA will now go to the Senate for a vote and then to the President’s desk.

Sherrill-secured projects and provisions include:

• Provisions to expedite the feasibility studies of the Rahway and Peckman Rivers
• Authorization for a new feasibility study on flood risk management and ecosystem restoration around the Passaic River Basin. 
• An increase in the amount of funding the federal government can spend on individual small flood mitigation projects. This will be critical given how inflation has increased the costs of projects across the state. 
• Establishing community project advisors in each US Army Corps of Engineers district to help improve local knowledge of the responsibilities involved with water resources projects.
• Increasing the allowed deepening depth of federal navigation channels to accommodate access of new, larger cargo vessels into the Port of New Jersey.

Rep. Sherrill has also secured funding through the appropriations process for a number of Community Projects in NJ-11 to mitigate flooding and strengthen our water infrastructure, including for the Peckman River Basin Project, the Whippany River Improvement Initiative Project, and an Army Corps feasibility study on the Whippany River. 

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