Cranbury Explores Flood Mitigation Plan

Cranbury Township committee members are exploring a plan to mitigate flooding from Brainerd Lake.

The plan described Monday calls for the 40-foot spillway in the lake to be expanded, the Main Street bridge foundation to be repaired and the railing to be replaced, according to Committee Member David Cook and Township Engineer Bill Tanner. 

One of the three plans presented calls for the existing spillway to be expanded to 100-feet. The spillway allows water to flow from Brainerd Lake to the Cranbury Brook for the purpose of emptying the lake in the event of an expected flood, according to officials.

Committee members reached a consensus that this plan should be explored at future meetings, including public hearings. 

“There will be plenty of public discussion,” Cook said. “This is not going to happen in a vacuum.” No official action was taken Monday, and Cook said there would be several public meetings within the next 60 to 90 days.

Brainerd Lake was drained before Hurricane Irene hit but . Tanner said he believes the best option is increasing the spillway to 100-feet to alleviate flooding.

“We have to do something when there is a lot of rain,” Tanner said. “With the current situation we could have flooding every year. This would be a 50-50 probability. With this option, the 50 percent chance would be reduced to a 10 percent chance of a heavy flood on a yearly basis.”

Tanner said that a 100-year storm brings 8.3 inches of rain in a 24-hour period, and Hurricane Irene brought over nine inches of rain to Cranbury in that same amount of time. 

“If we have another big rainfall, we may still have some flooding,” Cook said. “This concept doesn’t eliminate the possibility of a flood, however, this will reduce the effects of floods significantly." 

The township owns Brainerd Lake and the county owns Main Street. According to officials, both the county and Cranbury would split the cost of the approximately $5 million project.

Business owner Art Hasselbach said that the dam never solved the flooding problem.

“Before they put the dam in, they never had problems, when the lake was a creek,” Hasselbach said.

The reconstruction of the spillway would take about six months, according to Tanner. It would involve the draining of the lake, building of a temporary coffer around the spillway and lengthening of the existing spillway. The township historic preservation committee would also be brought in to assess the work, officials said.

If approved, Tanner said the work could begin this summer and that is what he hopes will happen.

“You never want to see an Irene again. You never want to see a 100-year storm again,” Tanner said.