Basement flooding and foundation damage from water-table rise in the East New York section of Brooklyn, Long Island, New York

A rising water table following cessation of public-supply pumping has been causing basement flooding and building-foundation damage in the East New York section of Brooklyn, Kings County, Long Island, N.Y., since 1975. The water table in the central part of the area rose from a low of about 12 feet (3.7 meters) below sea level in 1936 to about 8 to 10 feet (2.4 to 3 meters) above sea level in March 1976. Public-supply pumping in Brooklyn ceased in 1947 and ceased in 1974 in the adjacent Woodhaven section of Queens County. A further water-table rise of about 2 feet (0.6 meter) is anticipated in the next several years in the central part of the East New York area, and the ultimate water-table height could be as much as about 15 feet (4.6 meters) above sea level. Relief from the flooding by dewatering operations is complicated by problems with disposal of pumped-out ground water. (Woodard-USGS)