City Council Approves $50,000 in Emergency Repairs to the City's Wastewater Treatment Plant due to Hurricane Fred

August 27, 2021 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Auburn, NY – The Auburn City Council approved $50,000 in emergency repairs to the City of Auburn Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) in the aftermath of significant rain fall experienced August 18-19 due to Hurricane Fred.

On August 19, 2021 the City of Auburn issued a High Water Event for the Owasco River due to 7.64” of rain measured during the previous 48 hours as Hurricane Fred proceeded through the northeast United States. The event was historic for Auburn placing the summer of 2021 as the second most rainiest summer in Central NY recorded history.

“Our City Wastewater Treatment Facility ran for its longest period of time at maximum flow,” stated Seth Jensen, Director of Municipal Utilities for the City of Auburn. “Record flows for record duration was observed at the Wastewater Treatment Plant. Flows came up to a maximum capacity of 52 Million Gallons per Day (MGD) and the plant, although inundated, performed very well under the careful direction of operations staff. Normal plant flows are 8 MGD.”

The duration of significant maximum flow took its toll on the facility and at the Thursday, August 26, 2021 City Council meeting the Council considered and unanimously adopted an emergency resolution to fund repairs to the WWTP facility.

City Manager Jeff Dygert explained to the City Council that there is an effort underway to possibly fund the repairs through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). “We are working with the Cayuga County Emergency Management Office to gather all the financial data as far as the cost that we experienced as a municipality to deal with the flooding and heavy rainfall.  What will happen as part of an emergency declaration from FEMA is counties in the region will assess their damage and compile the expenses associated and if there is an emergency declaration issued by FEMA we will pursue reimbursement for the City.”

Due to Hurricane Fred Owasco Lake experienced record high lake levels on August 20, 2021, cresting at 714.9’ MSL (MSL, Mean Sea Level = the average height above standard sea level), less than an inch below official Army Corps of Engineers flood designation level of 715' MSL. Owasco River flow peaked over the weekend around 2400 cubic feet per second (CFS), double the 1200 CFS experienced during a previous July 2021 high river flow event. With high flow continuing throughout the week the Owasco River flow was reduced by Thursday, measured at 1600 CFS on August 26th and the Owasco Lake level had dropped to below 713’ MSL, closer to its target elevation of 712.75' MSL.

For more information contact Seth Jensen, Director of Municipal Utilities, City of Auburn at sjensen@auburnny.gov