New Canaan officers need environmental examine earlier than restoration work on Grupes Reservoir Dam – Information 12 New Jersey

There may be disagreement between officers on how finest to revive a New Canaan dam that dates again to the nineteenth century.

The Grupes Reservoir Dam was in-built 1871.

The Division of Vitality and Environmental Safety and native officers say New Canaan’s Grupes Dam wants restorations, however native officers say the state’s plan will trigger issues for neighbors.

New Canaan’s First Taxing District was given a allow by DEEP to extend the dam’s peak by 4 toes and assemble an embankment, or a berm, to stop water overflowing the banks.

“The upstream neighbors have a priority significantly on either side of the reservoir of what the impression shall be of their viewshed,” mentioned Chris Schipper.

Schipper chairs the city Conservation Fee and was president of the New Canaan Land Belief, which owns a wildlife protect close to the reservoir. Schipper says the deliberate restoration might depart the protect flooded and unusable, particularly in spring or throughout heavy rains.

“If the berm impounds the water, it might flood parts of that lovely land belief property, which is visited by neighbors and land belief members,” he mentioned.

Funding for the venture is ready to return from the state Division of Public Well being. New Canaan officers are calling for an environmental impression assertion earlier than floor is damaged.

“You need to accumulate data; you do what you name reality sense or land sense. You stroll the property, you consider it for its habitat, its wildlife,” Schipper mentioned.

Schipper says acres of habitat and one of many city’s finest views are on the road.

“It is among the oldest Land Belief properties in New Canaan, one of many earliest items obtained,” he mentioned.

DEEP despatched Information 12 an announcement saying partially, “the company held 4 days of public hearings, and ultimately concluded the competing dam security, and environmental pursuits had been balanced when it got here to the design of the venture.”