Norfolk, Va., Claims Award for Flood Management Project

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(TNS) – Norfolk’s community-oriented approach to dealing with water management and flood control has earned the city a national award.

Earlier this month, the Association of State Floodplain Managers hosted its annual conference in Raleigh, North Carolina, where the city was selected as recipient of the James Lee Witt Local Award for Excellence in Floodplain Management for the Ohio Creek Watershed Project.

The award recognizes programs or activities at the front lines of floodplain management. Local governments from across the country, including cities, towns, and counties, and certain regional forms of local government compete for the Witt Award annually. Eligible entries include either an overall program or a specific project or activities that epitomize the best in floodplain management.

The Ohio Creek Watershed project, funded by a $112 million grant through the state Department of Housing and Community Development, built a “distributed, replicable, and community-oriented approach to resiliency,” the city said in a news release.

The Ohio Creek Watershed includes two residential, predominantly African American neighborhoods with civic leagues and a strong community identity. The historic Chesterfield Heights neighborhood has more than 400 houses on the Historic National Register while Grandy Village includes a public housing community with more than 300 units.

The Ohio Creek Watershed has regularly experienced tidal and precipitation flooding and only two roads access the community. One road is completely impassable during regular nuisance flood events.

Residents have expressed concerns about being cut off from the rest of the city and shoreline erosion that exacerbates river flooding and prevents recreational activity, the city said.

The Ohio Creek integrated flood control system makes coastal residents active participants in water management, creates green spaces to hold and absorb excess water while filtering it to remove pollutants, and creates natural walking trails that reconnect the neighborhoods.

The expanded green and open space needed to hold water provides residents with recreational amenities, “creating neighborhoods where people choose to live,” the release said. The area, known as Resilience Park, connects the Grandy Village and Chesterfield Heights neighborhoods. The park includes an earthen berm, a restored tidal creek and wetland and other environmental features as well as a multi-use sports field and places for community gatherings.

“The Resilience Park strives to be a model for resilient open space that is uniquely Norfolk,” the release said. The project is expected to open this summer.

The City of Norfolk, now recognized as a national leader in flood plain management, works to educate policymakers on sound floodplain management policies, deliver professional development and training events; conduct applied research, promote emerging technologies and increase international awareness on flooding and flood loss reduction.

Headquartered in Wisconsin, the Association of State Floodplain Managers consists of 7,000 individual members, along with chapter members and corporate and agency partners, who come from a variety of backgrounds, including local, state, and federal floodplain managers and other governmental officials, industry representatives, higher education researchers and professionals at non-profit organizations.