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Discussion on Intro 1067-A and citywide groundwater flooding measurement

1:24:30

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Council Member Avilés inquires about DEP's practices in measuring groundwater flooding across New York City, referencing Intro 1067-A. Commissioner Aggarwala explains DEP's current limitations and ongoing efforts.

DEP does not currently map or measure groundwater flooding citywide
A partnership with USGS has been initiated to study water table levels
Aggarwala clarifies DEP's responsibilities regarding water infrastructure and homeowner responsibilities

Alexa Avilés

1:24:30

I I wanted to follow-up on a couple of questions related to the legislation, 67.

1:24:36

And apologies if I if if you may have actually talked about this, and I missed it because I had to step out.

1:24:43

In particular, related to, does DP measure the incidence of groundwater flooding across across the city?

1:24:50

And if so, how frequently does this kind of flooding occur?

1:24:55

And in what areas?

Rohit T Aggarwala

1:24:58

We do not.

1:24:59

We do not have a map.

1:25:01

It is actually one of the reasons that we have started this work with the US geological survey just to understand where the water table is, and therefore to be able to keep track of how it may be changing over time.

1:25:17

As you know, DEP is responsible for the water and sewer infrastructure.

1:25:24

It does not mean that wherever there is water, it is our responsibility.

1:25:29

And keeping basements dry is actually primarily of the responsibility of the homeowner.

1:25:37

Because of climate change, as I said, the water table is rising across the city, and this is something that's going on up and down the the Atlantic Coast.

1:25:45

And so we are working with USGS to to try to understand that.

1:25:49

But now as a result, we have not maintained a dataset of who who is experiencing groundwater flooding.

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Timeline and expectations for the DEP-USGS groundwater study partnership