Flooding along the Raritan and Delaware rivers has wreaked havoc on residents and businesses from decades.
Both houses of the state legislature have unanimously approved bills to form the Hunterdon-Somerset Flood Advisory Task Force to study the effects of flooding along the Raritan and Delaware Rivers, according to a report on mycentraljersey.com.
The bill, co-sponsored by State Sen. Christopher "Kip" Bateman (R-16) and Assemblyman Andrew Zwicker (D-16) among others, was approved in the state Senate in March and passed by the Assembly on June 27.
It will now be presented to Gov. Chris Christie.
The 11-member Task Force, whose members would be appointed by the governor, would be responsible for reviewing past floods in Hunterdon and Somerset counties from the two rivers and recommending ways to reduce the impact of future floods, according to the report.
Bound Brook flood control project completed
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently announced the completion of the Bound Brook portion of the Green Brook Flood Control Project, which will protect the borough from future floods.
According to the report, the Delaware River has flooded eight times in 20 years, with floods in 2004, 2005 and 2006 eclipsing the historic flood of 1955. The Raritan River has over-flowed 24 times since 2000, and 116 times since 1923.
The task force will submit a final report to the governor and the Legislature within one year after its organization, according to the report.
Dave Hutchinson may be reached at dhutchinson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DHutch_SL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.