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A retired oceanographer, he spent his career at the U.S. Coast Guard Research and Development Center in Connecticut, applying his expertise in the study of water and material movement. Now, that same knowledge can benefit management and maintenance of the Muskingum River. “Our river is not heavily used for recreation, and I think it’s the cleanliness of the water,” he said. “There probably are thousands of failed sewage systems, from residences and farms, that are flowing into the river. We desperately need programs to see how clean it is, to address the problem and then monitor it.” Matching funds provided by the MWCD assessment can be used to address this concern, as well as another of Quincy’s primary concerns: the threat of damage from high water. “We need to take action to mitigate the damage that can be done by flooding,” he said. “You cannot wish away the possibility of flooding hardships. People ignore the warnings and expect to be rescued.” Quincy believes the flooding after levees failed in New Orleans should be a wake-up call for all of us. “You have to feel sorry for those people in New Orleans, but you have to say, ‘Hello … you’re living in an area that’s below sea level and you can’t ignore the needs of your flood control system,’" he said. “In our area, the flooding in 2005 was over the banks and into the downtowns of both Malta and McConnellsville. And it would have been worse — as bad as it was in 1913 — if it wasn’t for the dam system that controls the flow of water upstream from us. It’s critical that this system is maintained.” For that reason, Quincy supports the MWCD assessment program. “To have improvements from an aesthetic and an engineering point of view, it’s worth an assessment,” he said. “The conservancy district has never had one before, and the time is right now.” In fact, the $270 million raised by the assessment – mostly in $12-per-residential property increments – will return some $2,000 per resident in the form of flood reduction and water quality improvements. “There have been some wild things said about the assessment,” said Quincy. “But the fact is, the federal government won’t – or can’t — allocate the money for all of the flood protection and water quality safeguards we need. We’ve got to take actions of our own.”
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Quincy Robe, who has established his retirement home in the village of Malta, believes in the pressing need to restore the quality of the water in the Muskingum River that flows between his community and McConnellsville in Morgan County.