Opinion
Herring River Restoration Project threatens home
By Martin Nieski
August 2, 2019
Posted at 3:01 AM
As a property owner in the area of the proposed Herring River Restoration Project, I read the recent opinion pieces by Andrew Gottlieb and Mark Forest with great interest. I can't speak to the grand benefits they ascribe to the restoration project, but I do know that the mere threat of flooding has already devalued my home and that restoring the tides on my property will devalue it further. My story began more than 20 years ago when I allowed the project proponents to evaluate how the flooding from this project would affect my house. They determined that the flood waters would reach 4.5 feet above the basement floor. In fact, they gave me a photo of an official standing under my deck with a yardstick to indicate the 4.5-foot water mark.
Over many years I attended countless meetings with the project proponents. Although they claimed they had spent $40,000 of taxpayer money on flood mitigation plans for my property, they could not come up with an acceptable solution.
Their first proposal to mitigate the effects of the flooding was to fill my walkout basement with gravel, seal up all the doors, including two double-sliding glass doors, a regular door, and the garage door. My furnace and pump would be moved to a new out building constructed above the water level, and my well would be relocated across the street on someone else's property. Our family room, a favorite gathering spot for my children and grandchildren, would become unusable as well as the rest of my walkout basement.
The second proposal was to build a berm 9-feet wide and 6-feet high around the entire back and sides of my house to hold back the tide. Since the berm would not allow rainwater to drain off my property, they were going to install a release valve to let the water out. Who was going to maintain it? What would happen if it got clogged when I wasn't there? No good answers.
The third proposal, mentioned in passing, was to raise the house above the flood waters. This never got beyond the discussion stage.
The main selling points were that I would be able to launch a canoe and harvest clams and mussels right outside the berm in my back yard, and I knew that was baloney. I'm 74 years old. How long would it be before the clams and mussels showed up?
It would take decades before salt water killed all the freshwater plants and animals to make room for salt water species. Meanwhile, I would be looking from my deck and windows at a smelly, ugly, dying mudflat that was once lush with wild cherry trees, oaks and pines, and abounding with birds, squirrels, raccoons, deer, foxes and turtles.
Now they are telling me to get ready for them to flood 40% of my property without my permission. They claim they can legally do this because the flooding will not affect any "structures." That raises three questions. Do they have the right to kill my trees and berry bushes and rob me of the usable land I love? If they ruin my well and septic will they pay to fix them? Will they merrily proceed with an illegal taking of my property without my permission? How would you feel if someone threatened to do that to your home?
Martin Nieski lives in Wellfleet.