APP photo near New Jersey Ave. bridge. Tom Costello. Flooding also occurred at Fletcher and Deal Lakes. 9/29/23:
A member of the Wesley Lake Commission told the APP, “What happened was the ground was so saturated, so there was nowhere for the rain to go, so it just went right into the storm drains into the lakes, and then people’s sump pumps were regurgitating that water and putting it back into the streets, back into the sewers, and back into the lakes again,” Chapman said
“She added ‘every time there is a project built and we take away more grass and more dirt, there is nowhere for that water to go.”
A follow-up meeting in mid-October focused on the outflow pipes and the amount of stormwater that comes into Wesley Lake “with such a force.”
“Because it is coming from so many different directions … maybe the outflow pipe isn’t sufficient for getting that (amount of) water out efficiently,”
“APP—ASBURY PARK – Three lakes — Wesley, Deal and Fletcher — have become so prone to severe flooding that both Neptune and Asbury Park are working on solutions in the short-term and for the future”.
Blogfinger : “North End project will make this worse”.
“What is OGNED proposing to deal with increased street run-off and inadequate Wesley Lake output to the ocean?” Why did the DEP bless the North End plan without telling the public how OGNED will deal with polluted Wesley Lake water, protection of wildlife at the lakes, street water runoff, and flooding?
March 22, 2024:
Reports of 2-4 inches of rain 3/23/24. Flooding expected again.
Paul Goldfinger, Editor Blogfinger.net
The Wesley Lake Commission held a Zoom meeting with a representative of the Army Corps of Engineers several months ago. It seems the flooding problem is mostly due to the outlet pipe into the ocean. Wind and tides can cause ocean water to enter the pipe or prevent lake water from exiting. A suggestion was made about having a second pipe and the installation of a flap valve to prevent ocean water entry.
Another problem is that a past inspection of the OG concrete retaining walls found that Lake water is running under them and bypassing the weir.
It might be desirable to forego a little sand and create an open channel for the Lake drainage to the ocean. There are early accounts of herring entering the lake to spawn via such a channel. The locals caught these with small nets or even by hand.
Editor: Thanks David. You are a breath of fresh herring. PG