News from the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DATE: June 12, 2008

CONTACT:    Jim Gallagher, 603-271-1961

 

Independent Evaluation of Recent Flooding in New Hampshire

Final Public Information Meeting to be held on June 25, 2008 in Rochester

 

Concord, NH – The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services announced today that the last of three public information meetings will be held to present the final results of the independent evaluation to determine the specific causes of recent floods in New Hampshire and provide recommendations for ways to mitigate future flooding.

 

The public meeting will be held on Wednesday, June 25, 2008, at 7:00 PM in the Auditorium of the Spaulding High School, 130 Wakefield Street, Rochester, New Hampshire.  At the meeting, the engineering consultants who performed the evaluation will discuss what can be done in the future to reduce flooding impacts in New Hampshire.  In addition, they will also review their findings on the causes of the May 2006 and April 2007 floods, which they presented in detail at the second public meeting.

 

The $330,000 study is being funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and performed by a team led by the URS Corporation, an international engineering firm under contract to FEMA.  In addition, an independent panel of national experts in water resources management is overseeing the entire study to ensure that the work and recommendations meet the highest level of professional independence and expertise.  The independent panel will also be present at the public information to discuss their conclusions.

 

Additional information on the study, as well as directions to the Spaulding High School, is available on the Department of Environmental Services website at www.des.nh.gov/dam/floods.htm.  For more information, please contact Jim Gallagher, at the Department of Environmental Services Dam Bureau, at 271-1961.