know l e dge
Creating a More
Resilient
City
Associate Brian Batten has led the City of Virginia Beach's
comprehensive sea level rise and recurrent flooding planning
study as both a project manager and a scientist. In this Q&A,
he shares details on the study and its approach.
Why is this study and its approach
important to the city?
including several low-lying areas that experience
The Hampton Roads region, where Virginia Beach is
plan contractor currently working in this area. This has
situated, has one of the highest levels of sea level rise in
the country. This has resulted in increasing amounts
of flooding in some low-lying areas and challenges to
drainage. Instead of responding to each new problem
as it arose, the city had the vision to step back and take a
wide- and far-ranging look at how the community would
be impacted by future sea level increases. The value is
the ability to develop plans that will address both today's
problems and prepare a roadmap for the future. In the
end, the plans we create will lay out the best performing
strategies to help the city reduce its short- and long-term
repetitive flooding. The city also has its stormwater master
offered a unique opportunity to collaborate to assess
how the increased coastal flood elevations will backflow
through the stormwater system and cause additional
interior flooding.
What technology has been
used in the study?
One interesting aspect of the effort is that we are using
FEMA's HAZUS-MH Flood Model software as a forensic
tool to understand where losses are scattered or clustered,
and how much they will increase with future flood
vulnerability to increased flooding.
conditions. We are also combining this with feasibility
Why did you start in the
Lynnhaven watershed?
This allows us to identify and prioritize project areas
The Lynnhaven watershed is one of the more populated
management in those areas. For example, regions with
watersheds within the city. It connects to the Chesapeake
Bay through a tidal inlet and has a large amount
factors and cost-benefit analysis to prioritize the projects.
and determine the appropriate solutions for flood risk
concentrated losses would be a higher priority and would
be much more cost-beneficial to protect.
of development adjacent to the interior waterways,
Fall 2016
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http://www.dewberry.com/news/blog/post/blog/2016/09/15/mapping-future-flood-hazards
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Dimensions - Fall 2016