LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION memorializing the Congress of the United States
to fund the Susquehanna Flood Forecast and Warning System

WHEREAS, The Susquehanna River starts in Cooperstown, New York, and
flows 444 miles to Havre de Grace, Maryland, where it meets the Chesa-
peake Bay; the Susquehanna River Basin covers 27,510 square miles and
contains more than 32,000 miles of waterways; it is one of the most
flood-prone areas in the United States; more than 80 percent of the
basin's 1,400 plus municipalities include areas that are flood-prone;
and
WHEREAS, The Susquehanna Flood Forecast and Warning System provides
the National Weather Service with the critically important data neces-
sary to issue flood warnings; the system is extremely cost-effective,
providing a 20-to-1 benefit-cost ratio; for every dollar invested by the
federal government, the system saves 20 dollars through reduced flood
damages and reduced payments through the federal flood insurance
program; and
WHEREAS, On January 5, 2011, the Executive Director of the Susquehanna
River Basin Commission received news that the Congress of the United
States had blocked the Fiscal Year 2011 (FY-11) Omnibus Appropriations
Bill; this will effectively result in no funding for the Susquehanna
Flood Forecast and Warning System in FY-11; and
WHEREAS, The Susquehanna Flood Forecast and Warning System uses radar
and a network of stream and rain gauges to provide data that are used to
forecast river levels and issue more accurate early flood warnings; the
de-funding of the Susquehanna Flood Forecast and Warning System in FY-11
will create the potential for a loss of such critical data; loss of
funding for the Susquehanna Flood Forecast and Warning System also poses
the risks of additional funding being discontinued by other system part-
ners; and
WHEREAS, With early flood warnings, businesses and residents living in
the flood-prone areas of the Susquehanna River Basin have time to secure
their properties and get themselves to safer locations before flood
waters strike; and
WHEREAS, In addition to the Susquehanna Flood Forecast and Warning
System's many flood forecasting benefits, the stream gauges that are the
backbone of the system are relied on by the Susquehanna River Basin
Commission to protect streams from water withdrawals that are regulated
for natural gas development in the Marcellus Shale and other water-de-
pendent projects; and
WHEREAS, The water resource management program inherent in the Susque-
hanna Flood Forecast and Warning System is inextricably linked to the
public health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the Susquehanna
River Basin; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the Congress of the United States be and hereby is
respectfully memorialized by this Legislative Body to fund the Susque-
hanna Flood Forecast and Warning System; and be it further
RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to the President of the Senate of the United States, the Speaker
of the House of Representatives, and to each member of the Congress of
the United States from the State of New York.