Washington, DC - Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) this week secured the House Appropriations Committee's approval of $200,000 for the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC). Hinchey who is a member of the committee, worked to secure the funds for the continued upgrade and enhancement to the basin's flood warning system as part of the Fiscal Year 2010 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations bill. 
 
"Given the severe and repeated floods throughout the Delaware River Basin in the past several years, it's critical that we take every step necessary to prevent the loss of life and minimize property damage from future floods."  Hinchey said.  "Improving and updating the basin's flood warning system will help communities better prepare for flooding and reduce flood damages through improved planning.  While I remain focused on effort to mitigate future flooding, we also need to ensure that our communities can be quickly notified and effectively prepared when we face future flooding events."

The DRBC is expanding upon improvements to its flood warning system that Hinchey initially helped fund in Fiscal Year 2008. These improvements will enable the basin wide flood warning system to be further enhanced and maintained. These funds would upgrade the stream gage network, improve emergency forecasting for flash flooding, increase outreach and flood preparedness education, and improve coordination among the local, state and federal emergency response agencies. Funding for an enhanced basin wide flood warning system would provide authorities with advanced notice of a major flooding event and improve the ability of local and regional authorities to coordinate and manage such disaster situations.
 
The measure still has several legislative steps to go, but having the funds included in the original version of the bill is considered a critical step in the process.