{"id":523525,"date":"2026-09-14T06:43:42","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T10:43:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/uncategorized\/new-york-reinforces-construction-works-to-face-flooding\/"},"modified":"2026-09-14T06:43:42","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T10:43:42","slug":"new-york-reinforces-construction-works-to-face-flooding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/international\/new-york\/new-york-reinforces-construction-works-to-face-flooding\/","title":{"rendered":"New York reinforces construction works to face flooding"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>New York.<\/strong>\u2013 New York is strengthening its infrastructure to face <strong>flooding<\/strong> and other effects associated with climate change, with investments aimed at modernizing the sewer system, expanding natural solutions for stormwater management, and protecting the most vulnerable communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Lisa F. Garcia noted to the City Council that the four episodes with the highest hourly rainfall rates recorded in Central Park over the last 50 years have occurred since 2021. This situation increases pressure on a water and sewer network that, in some areas, is decades old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Garcia assumed the leadership of the DEP in February 2026. Before holding the position, she was the regional administrator for Region 2 of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), with responsibility for New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, among other jurisdictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Floods: priority areas<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the pillars of New York&#8217;s strategy against <strong>flooding<\/strong> is the stormwater analysis conducted by the city, which identified 86 priority areas where investments are required to reduce risks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The plan combines sewer expansions and upgrades with projects such as rain gardens, natural drainage corridors known as Bluebelts, and spaces designed to temporarily retain large amounts of water during extreme downpours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Floods in Queens<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Among the investments contemplated is the development of storm sewers in southeast Queens. The DEP reported in March that its capital plan included about $2 billion of a total $2.8 billion program aimed at alleviating chronic <strong>flooding<\/strong> in that area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The city has also worked on modernizing street drains. From July 2024 to March 2026, the DEP reported improvements to 3,273 catch basins and announced that it would continue to expand these interventions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Coastal flooding<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In addition to drainage projects, measures are being taken to address coastal <strong>flooding<\/strong> and storm surges. In July, the municipal administration announced a $43.2 million investment to expand the Office of Coastal Resilience and hire 69 additional employees, including engineers, planners, and specialized personnel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The initiative seeks to strengthen the planning and operation of projects aimed at protecting the city&#8217;s approximately 520 miles of coastline. The program complements other investments announced to improve sewer operations and address flood-prone areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More recently, New York City and State announced an $8.4 million investment to transform concrete spaces in Whitestone, Forest Hills, and Queens Village into green infrastructure capable of absorbing rainwater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Authorities estimate that those facilities will be able to jointly capture about five million gallons of rainwater each year, reducing pressure on the sewer system during heavy rain episodes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The municipal strategy stems from the need to adapt infrastructure built under different climatic conditions than the current ones. The DEP maintains a long-term planning process that includes traditional engineering projects and natural solutions to reduce the damage caused by increasingly intense storms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New York.\u2013 New York is strengthening its infrastructure to face flooding and other effects associated with climate change, with investments aimed at modernizing the sewer system, expanding natural solutions for stormwater management, and protecting the most vulnerable communities. Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Lisa F. Garcia noted to the City Council that the four [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133553,"featured_media":523526,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[44549],"tags":[44182,41575],"class_list":["post-523525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-cover","tag-floods"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/phj1q1-2cbX","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/09\/ny-ciudad.jpg","dum_api":{"author_name":"F\u00e9lix Abad","author_image":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/39a5ff177de98dc8653e5d28809b69198fa14b4bbfcdb4c999b34fe6646cd495?s=96&d=mm&r=g","categories_name":["New York"],"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cdn.deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/09\/ny-ciudad.jpg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/133553"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=523525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523525\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/523526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=523525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=523525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deultimominuto.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=523525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}