Norfolk asks state to study fixes to flooding problem

RICHMOND

A full moon, a high tide and a brief downpour can be disastrous for many residents in Norfolk's East Ocean View. Rising water from Pretty Lake, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay, often overwhelms the storm sewer system and overflows the inlet's banks, flooding streets, homes and cars.

Much the same is true in Ghent, where the Hague often spills into the neighborhood.

The cost to fix flooding problems in those two neighborhoods, by installing floodgates and berms and relocating streets, is pegged by city officials at as much as $135 million. Add the Mason Creek and Spartan Village areas and it's more than $200 million - and that doesn't begin to address Larchmont, Colonial Place, downtown and many other flood-prone neighborhoods.

"We don't have that kind of money," Mayor Paul Fraim said.

As sea levels rise, the problems will become more acute.

So the city has asked the General Assembly to pay for a study that would recommend strategies on how best to deal with it.

Bryan Pennington, Norfolk's lobbyist, said federal officials have told the city that a state study is a necessary first step toward requesting federal money to pay for flood control measures.

"The state has been silent on the subject of sea-level rise," Pennington said. "That puts us at a competitive disadvantage."

Del. Chris Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, and Sen. Ralph Northam, D-Norfolk, have submitted companion bills (HJ50, SJ76) that would partially pay for a $138,000 study by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, which would be assisted by Old Dominion University and the University of Virginia.

The bills have so far advanced on near-unanimous votes.

The study would not be limited to Norfolk. The bills call for a comprehensive study of flooding in all of "Tidewater," including Virginia Beach and the Eastern Shore, as well as the Northern Neck.

Stolle, who represents a portion of Ocean View, said VIMS would gather information already compiled by cities and counties, then present a report to the General Assembly by Jan. 1.

The problem throughout Hampton Roads is twofold - not only is the sea slowly rising, much of the land is slowly sinking.

According to measurements taken at Sewells Point in Norfolk, sea level has risen 14.5 inches since 1930. It isn't known why local cities are sinking, but Bob Matthias, an assistant in the Virginia Beach city manager's office, said the theory is that the huge amount of water being drawn from wells may be the cause.

Some say the global warming that's led to sea-level rise is being caused by man-made pollution. Others say it's a naturally occurring progress. Regardless, Stolle said, "Now is the time for us to see what we need to do.

"There is great work going on throughout the region on flooding. This study will bring it all together."

In 2008, the Environmental Protection Agency ranked Norfolk second only to New Orleans among East and Gulf Coast cities threatened by flooding. While the federal government has spent billions of dollars since Hurricane Katrina to protect New Orleans, it has spent only a few million dollars in Norfolk, most of it on raising homes in flood-prone areas.

"We have the Norfolk naval base here," Fraim said. "We have the ports facilities here. From a national security standpoint, the federal government should be very interested in protecting those facilities."

According to the governor's commission on climate change, Hampton Roads ranks 10th in the world in the value of assets threatened by sea-level rise.

Those assets include the homes of 22,000 people in East Ocean View, who could be threatened by the next nor'easter or a gusher thunderstorm at high tide.

Northam knows that well - he lives in the East Beach neighborhood in Ocean View. He also represents flood-prone Larchmont and Ghent.

"I hear about it from my constituents all the time," he said. "It's a major problem that's only going to get worse."

Harry Minium, 757-446-2371, harry.minium@pilotonline.com