Hackensack Battles Rising Waters: A Community Fights Back Against Flooding

“Editor’s note: This story was produced as part of “Stormwater Matters,” a project on stormwater management solutions by the New Jersey News Collaborative.”

“There are people who are disproportionately burdened by environmental problems.” Professor Fiona Gladstone of Fairleigh Dickinson University.

“Justice implies there is something wrong right now- something needs correcting.” 

Lifelong Hackensack resident Dr. Anita Rivers knows troubled waters all too well. The home she inherited from her grandmother, purchased in the 1920s, hasn’t always been in a flood zone. However, Dr. Rivers says that today, when it rains, her home and the surrounding homes in her neighborhood all flood. 

“I’m on pins and needles every time it rains,” said Rivers. “I have a French drain and 2 sump pumps—as long as the electricity is on, I’m able to keep the water out of my basement. [But] water still comes into my garage because the area where I live becomes a lake when it rains.” Dr. Rivers lives on sloped land in the Bergen County suburb, across the street from railroad tracks, which, as she describes, turns her neighborhood into a sort of “soup bowl” when it rains. 

According to her, due to increasing residential development, more residents will experience flooding than ever before. She adds that runoff from Hackensack University Medical Center, storm water drains from the nearby city of Teaneack, an outdated sewer system, and non-flood-friendly landscaping all make matters worse. 

After Dr. Rivers and her neighbors attended countless city council meetings to voice their concerns, they met with the state Environmental Protection Agency Commissioner, Shawn LaTourette, to continue the conversation. And Dr. Rivers didn’t stop there.

On September 9th, at the Second Reformed Church on Union Street in Hackensack, she, along with thirty community members and business professionals, met with the New Jersey Community Foundation Environmental Justice Alliance (NJCFEJA) to identify ways to tackle these environmental problems. 

The Northern New Jersey Community Foundation (NNJCF) provides resources, leadership, and coaching to community groups whose mission is to help improve shared spaces. They service eight northern New Jersey counties: Bergen, Passaic, Hudson, Essex, Morris, Sussex, and Warren. 

At the September 9th meeting, NJCFEJA, joined by environmental professionals, including professors from nearby Fairleigh Dickinson University, discussed ongoing projects. Dr. Rivers expressed her priorities and reasons for joining the Alliance, stating: “I am here to learn how we can mitigate flooding or at least mitigate stormwater; develop emergency response plans to flooding; and contribute to this effort or any effort in the city to protect my community and safeguard our quality of life and property.”  

Other attendees discussed the residual effects of flooding in Hackensack, such as the traffic problems it causes for those who work in the city and the bitter emotions behind losing lifetime memories of stored items when a home floods. “My street is like little Venice,” one attendee declared from the back of the room. 

The event concluded with a vision for the future: The Green Infrastructure for Environmental Justice project. The project’s primary purpose is to reduce the impacts of flooding, and much progress has already been made. A rain garden, for example, was installed at Hackensack High School last June, along with rain-absorbing pavement throughout the city. 

The Alliance is also researching vegetative-based solutions to flooding that could combat air pollution, like planting more than 2000 new trees across the city. Finally, the plan also includes installing more solar panels in public places so that people can more easily locate safety and shelter when electricity is interrupted during a storm or during flooding. Executive Director of NNJCF, Leonardo Vazquez, declared in response to these initiatives: “All of these solutions don’t mean it will never flood again, but it does mean [there] would be less water and the water will drain faster.

Vazquez reported that the project’s ambitious plans will hopefully be funded by a 20 million dollar EPA grant, which the organization plans to apply for this month. He added that the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commission has already awarded the proposed project. 

“People don’t realize the power they have. They can come together to do wonderful things,” said Dr. Rivers. The Hackensack Environmental Justice Alliance (HEJA) will meet again on October 21, 2024, and will take place at Second Reformed Church on 436 Union Street in Hackensack, NJ