COURT HOUSE — A professional hired by Middle Township to study flooding in a Rio Grande neighborhood has determined that a recently built, higher lying, adjacent development didn’t cause the rising waters.
Last fall, neighbors from Marlyn Manor, the residential area located behind ShopRite and the Rio Grande Plaza shopping center, complained to township officials that their homes, yards and streets were under water after every rainstorm. The homeowners blamed the flooding on The Gatherings at Cape May, an age-restricted community by Atlanta-based Beazer Homes, directly north of Marlyn Manor that had been constructed in recent years at an elevation several feet higher than the older development.
Addressing those concerns, Township Committee took several steps over the past few months to find out why Marlyn Manor was so wet.
Investigation revealed several problems, including: flow in a local retention pond was blocked; drainage plans on the Beazer property were designed improperly and causing runoff into Marlyn Manor; and a storm water pipe in Marlyn Manor was clogged with tree roots stopping floodwaters from draining properly.
Historically high groundwater levels and record rainfall exacerbated those problems.
The township took action on each of these problems, authorizing emergency repairs on the drainpipe, clearing blockages in the pond, and working with Beazer engineers to install a new runoff system.
There was one other problem that wasn’t addressed by any of those fixes.
A home on Maryland Avenue owned by Joanne Masciarella was uniquely affected by the floods. It is one of the only properties in Marlyn Manor with a basement, and that basement has been wet and moldy since the flooding began.
Masciarella contends that the Beazer development caused a problem with the groundwater levels and forced water to perk sideways into Marlyn Manor rather than straight down, causing it to seep from the ground into her basement.
To investigate that possibility the township hired Tom Dwyer, of Eastern Geosciences Inc., to conduct a groundwater hydrology test in the area to determine if Beazer was responsible for Masciarella’s flooded basement.
Dwyer conducted various experiments and monitored test wells over the last few months and on Mon., July 19 presented his results to township committee.
Dwyer said extreme precipitation and snow events led to historically high ground water levels, causing the flooding, not higher elevation or infiltration basins on the Beazer property.
“Rainfall from April 2009 to March 2010 was 26 inches or 73 percent above normal,” Dwyer said.
“I’m not sure if it’s the historical peek rainfall, but if it’s not, it’s in the top five,” he added. He noted that basins throughout the state that are usually dry by April or May still have water in them in mid-July.
Dwyer noted that the state was currently experiencing a dry cycle, and if that continues, water levels could return to normal levels or lower.
“What if it doesn’t continue?” someone asked.
“A normal to slightly wet cycle could cause the flooding to continue,” he said. “But I personally hope it doesn’t because my basement was flooded all winter as well.”
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