In response to increased rain events in Hoboken, NJ, the 5-acre ResilienCity Park will divert and store nearly one million gallons of stormwater. That’s one million fewer gallons traveling through sewage pipes, flooding streets, and ruining our basements for the umpteenth time.
With Hoboken’s low-lying topography, the city becomes particularly susceptible to flooding. It only takes 0.8 inches of rain per hour for water to pool on the streets, and Hoboken residents especially bear the brunt during hurricane season. Nearly 500 million gallons of water flooded Hoboken during Hurricane Sandy. PATH trains went out of commission, power lines were cut, and both private and public property damage amounted to more than $110 million. Based on ongoing weather trends, it’s expected that the frequency of these storms will only increase, and the City is desperately looking for solutions.
The plan to buffer Hoboken from storms came to fruition with the Rebuild by Design Hudson River comprehensive water management strategy. Receiving $330 million, the plan features water-retention projects in the form of “resiliency parks.” Located between Madison and Adams Streets as well as 14th and 11th Street, the Northwest Resiliency Park, now known as the ResilienCity Park, is the largest resiliency park in the State.
The land occupied by ResilienCity Park has come a long way. Once exploited by industrial chemicals for nearly eight decades, the land’s potential for remediation came to light, and the BASF property was finally acquired in 2016. To ensure compliance with NJDEP and USEPA requirements, the project team collaborated with engineers and environmental officials to ensure that the park poses no health risks. After years of planning, review, and construction, the park is open to the public, featuring various recreational facilities and amenities, as well as paths for a leisurely stroll.
So how does the park reduce flooding? Using a mixture of soft landscape (e.g. plants and meadows) and hard infrastructure (e.g. floodwalls and tanks), the park aims to provide defense against storm surges and rising sea levels. Hidden beneath the athletic fields, gardens, and knolls is a one-million-gallon stormwater tank. Connected to the tank are sewage pipes that directly feed excess stormwater during heavy storms. This water is stored in the tank, receiving treatment before being pumped and discharged into the Hudson River. By redirecting the flow of water into the tank, main sewage pipes are relieved, and Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) are effectively reduced. CSOs occur when sewage pipes become overwhelmed and back out water onto streets and private property, essentially throwing up raw sewage.
Beyond flooding, the park has positive implications for the water quality of the Hudson River. By transforming the impervious surfaces into rain gardens and grassy knolls, the ground would absorb more stormwater, resulting in less contaminated stormwater that would runoff directly into the Hudson River. As explained by Professor Jagupilla, a Teaching Associate Professor at Stevens Institute of Technology, more rainwater will infiltrate the ground, and groundwater will be recharged. Furthermore, the groundwater undergoes natural bio-filtration before seeping into the Hudson River, which removes pollutants.
The good news is that ResilienCity Park is not the only park in Hoboken with a similar mission. Since 2017, the City opened up two other resiliency parks: the Southwest Resiliency Park and the 7th & Jackson Resiliency Park. The fourth park, 800 Monroe Resiliency Park, was conceived later in January 2023. Altogether, these four parks will hold up to 3 million gallons of stormwater – a feat for Hoboken.
It is important to note that these parks will not prevent flooding. “Most people say that we have to prevent flooding in Hoboken. That’s never possible. There’s always a probability that something will happen,” expressed Professor Jagupilla. “The park itself and the presence of the underground tank will help at least to a certain extent” especially when it comes to alleviating Hoboken’s ongoing flooding concerns. For a city with a hundredth of its area being resiliency parkland, it is definitely a step in the right direction.
