Breakup Ice Jam Flood Mitigation in the Lower Mohawk River

Frequent breakup ice-jam floods occur on the lower Mohawk River in Schenectady, New York, USA. This paper discusses the application of a river ice model to evaluate and develop potential ice jam flood mitigation options, including: (1) reconfiguring the river channel to remove “choke points” that cause ice jam formation; (2) physically break up ice cover, providing an open-water passage to accommodate increased ice discharge in the breakup ice run; (3) modifying the Vischer Ferry Dam at the downstream end of the reach to better manage water flows and “flush out” broken ice floes. Model simulations show that channel reconfiguration cannot effectively alleviate ice-jam flooding. However, maintaining an open-water passage through the ice cover along the thalweg between Knolls and the Dam, with ice-breaking operations during the winter, and improving the design and operation of the Vischer Ferry Dam could mitigate ice-jam flooding. This approach demonstrated its effectiveness and offered an alternative to existing ice-jam flood-prevention methods with minimal environmental impact.