A small start on a big problem

Rising seas and sinking land combine to bring floodwaters into several Norfolk neighborhoods during the full moon, storms and high tides.

Floodgates, berms and street relocations in just two of those neighborhoods - the Hague and East Ocean View - would cost the city about $135 million. Even if the city had that kind of money, most of those adaptations would simply serve as stopgap measures while the ocean and bay slowly cover more of Virginia's shoreline.

Measurements at Norfolk's Sewells Point show that sea level has risen by more than a foot since 1930. In less than 100 years, without an extensive levee system, much of the city could be underwater.

So the city has asked the General Assembly to help pay for a study to examine the best ways to deal with all that water, and legislators appear willing to approve it.

It's the first in a series of steps needed to come up with a comprehensive rising sea-level plan not just for Norfolk, but for the entire state, and to corner a chunk of federal dollars to pay for it. Washington officials want to know that their money will be used toward a comprehensive approach, rather than a piecemeal effort.

Legislators should approve funds for the study.

Although this step is a small one, Virginia must act now to address flooding issues because the fixes require decades of planning and work. The state also must secure its position - as did our neighbors to the north and south as well as cities on the West Coast - in the queue for federal assistance.

Bills submitted by Del. Chris Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, and Sen. Ralph Northam, D-Norfolk, 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. That study would examine flooding throughout the region, from Norfolk and Virginia Beach to the Eastern Shore and the Northern Neck.

Norfolk stands second only to New Orleans among East and Gulf Coast cities threatened by flooding, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Navy and port facilities would also be affected, not to mention thousands of residents living in low-lying areas or along the coast.

Hurricane Katrina forced the federal government to spend billions of dollars to better protect New Orleans from flooding and required an expensive and massive clean-up all along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico.

It's likely only a matter of time before a similar storm hits Virginia. Better to spend the money preventing tragedy than cleaning up after it.