MILFORD — Each full moon, Cal Mooney and Michele Holmes witness their street flood with saltwater from curb to curb for about a quarter-mile, often encroaching on their property lines.
Flooding is a common coastal problem in Connecticut, but Mooney says their street — Merwin Avenue — is the only one in Milford that hasn’t been fixed due to the city and state being locked in a jurisdictional dispute over a road drainage pipe..
“It’s a case of one [hand] not knowing what the other is doing,” Holmes said. “Nobody wants to deal with it.”
City officials claim that the flooding of the approximately quarter-mile stretch of Merwin, between Abigail Street and Sandpiper Crescent Road, is a state issue, as Merwin is State Road 736 and falls outside Milford’s jurisdiction.
Meanwhile, state officials maintain that Milford owns and is responsible for fixing the 18-inch drainage pipe. With neither side budging, neighbors are stuck in the middle.
“What happens is, [state officials] don’t want to do anything about it. Their answer is that you’re in a community where you’re by the ocean and it’s low lying … and they’re not going to do anything,” Holmes said. “They don’t want to spend the money.”
The disagreement “is insane,” added Mooney, a general building contractor. “Taxpayers should be up in arms saying what the hell are you guys doing?”
A state Department of Transportation spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.
Chris Saley, director of Milford’s Department of Public Works, sympathized with the residents but reiterated the city’s position.
“It’s their issue. It’s their road,” Saley said of the state. “Like with I-95. If there’s an issue with I-95, they own it. We own everything to it.”
The 18-inch pipe is part of the road’s infrastructure, Saley said, not the city’s infrastructure, which surrounds the road.
“Everyone, including ourselves, is doing more with less employees,” he said. “So we understand the constraints with the state, but it’s their responsibility to maintain that critical infrastructure.”
Milford Chief of Staff Justin Rosen responded to an email from Holmes complaining of the flooding issues by promising to pass her concerns along to state DOT officials in January. Rosen also referred her to State Rep. Charles Ferraro and State Sen. James Maroney, whose districts include that section of Milford, Holmes said.
More water on the way
Residents of Merwin Avenue can expect more water in the coming years, as a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration study released in February indicated that the rate of sea-level rise is accelerating.
The Sea Level Rise Technical Report predicts that the U.S. will experience as much sea-level rise by 2050 as it did in the last century, with East Coast waters expected to rise an additional 10 to 14 inches during this time.
Minor flooding, like what Merwin Avenue experiences, will occur more than 10 times as often as it does now, the report states. Global warming is among several contributors to this problem.
“Coastal flooding can be exacerbated by many factors that are not included in these estimates, such as rainfall, river discharge, wave impacts like coastal erosion, and existing infrastructure,” the report states. “… Without additional risk reduction measures, U.S. coastal infrastructure, communities, and ecosystems will face increased impacts.”
The issue of coastal and inland flooding has been on local governments’ radar for many years.
Stratford, for example, is seeking a grant to finance a study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers aimed at identifying the city’s most flood-prone areas and recommending solutions.
The study will take up to five years to complete. Stratford officials say the grant will allow the town to qualify for other federal grants and aid to help with coastal improvements.
The Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments, which assists its 19 municipalities with shared challenges, released a report in 2022 assessing their capacity to handle severe weather, including flooding.
The report identified chronic flooding areas, assessed the infrastructure within them that could curb flooding and suggested improvements. But the report found that even the most robust infrastructure is vulnerable.
The infrastructure problems associated with flooding were underlined by a severe rainstorm in August that caused at least $300 million worth of damage to several Connecticut towns. The flooding killed three people, damaged 2,000 homes and 128 businesses.
As with coastal flooding, sudden, severe rainfall is occurring more often. According to an analysis published on climate.gov by NOAA, the average number of days in the Northeast with regionally-observed rainfalls of more than 2 inches in 24 hours increased by 49% — from 300 instances to about 425 — from 1958 to 2018.
The number of regionally-observed instances of 3 or more inches of rainfall in a day increased 62%; days with over 4 inches of rainfall are up 84%, and days with over 5 inches of rainfall are up 103%.
Meanwhile, back on Merwin Avenue, residents tolerate the flooding as best they can. Mooney said it is especially frustrating because he believes the problem might be a cheap fix.
The pipe needs a backflow preventer valve, which costs about $3,500, Mooney said. Such valves are common. When working on city-owned roads, public works uses the valves to prevent flooding, Saley said.
The flooding can be hazardous to traffic and damaging to several homes in the area as well. At its worst, the flooding has breached her ground-floor doorway, Holmes said.
“It’s just a shame that everybody has to endure this. It’s a public safety hazard where sidewalks are blocked off and no one’s warned about it,” Mooney said.