WSW Secures Hundreds of Millions of Dollars for the Green Brook Flood Control Commission to Protect Lives and Property

In Brief

Secured over $700 million in federal investment for the Green Brook Flood Control Project, advancing large-scale flood control measures that protect 13 municipalities from devastating damage and loss of life.
Spurred an economic renaissance in previously stalled residential and downtown areas by significantly lowering or eliminating flood insurance costs, directly improving the lives and property values of local residents.
Project serves as a national and international model for flood protection, facilitated by sustained, multi-administration advocacy that successfully advanced key provisions in the Water Resources Development Act, annual appropriations, and disaster supplemental bills.

WSW has worked with the Green Brook Flood Control Commission and its representatives in Congress to secure over $700 million in federal investment in support of the Green Brook Flood Control Project. The Green Brook Sub-Basin is continually subject to severe and sometimes devastating flood damage. For much of the project area, which spans three counties and 13 municipalities across 65 square miles, the most damaging floods on record resulted from storms over the last 50 years, with 10 deaths attributed to these floods.

Through sustained outreach and advocacy to Congress, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and multiple Administrations, WSW has helped affected communities to advance policies and funding that have supported implementation of large-scale flood control measures, including significant structural and non-structural changes in the system to help reduce flooding and mitigate the risk of loss of life and property. WSW has worked with the Commission to advance provisions in the Water Resources Development Act, annual appropriations, and disaster supplemental appropriations to ensure that major segments of the project can proceed expeditiously, which saves costs to the federal government and local communities. By increasing understanding of the nature of the risks in the areas where the project is advancing, the Commission has been able to ensure sustained support at the federal and state levels for the project. Indeed, delegations from around the United States and the world have visited the project to learn about how flood protections have been implemented as a model for work elsewhere.

This work has made a meaningful difference in the lives of local residents. Completion of construction in along segments of the project has significantly lowered or eliminated the costs of flood insurance and facilitated a renaissance of development in downtown and residential areas where the risk of repeated flooding previously stalled investment and threatened homeowners for decades.