{"id":12858,"date":"2021-06-10T14:26:23","date_gmt":"2021-06-10T18:26:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/?p=12858"},"modified":"2025-06-09T16:09:54","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T20:09:54","slug":"virginia-climate-action-flood-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/2021\/06\/10\/virginia-climate-action-flood-risk\/","title":{"rendered":"Virginia is taking bold climate action to address flood risk across the state"},"content":{"rendered":"

Climate change poses a significant threat to Virginia\u2019s communities,\u00a0infrastructure\u00a0and economy. The state has the\u00a0<\/span>highest rates of sea level rise<\/span><\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0the Atlantic seaboard\u00a0with more\u00a0than\u00a034,000 buildings and 534 square miles of\u00a0coastal\u00a0land at risk of flooding by 2060, while\u00a0more intense\u00a0rainfall is\u00a0<\/span>also\u00a0increasing\u00a0flood risk\u00a0statewide<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Virginia\u2019s\u00a0state\u00a0leadership\u00a0is moving diligently\u00a0to\u00a0mitigate current and future flood threats by\u00a0funding\u00a0and implementing\u00a0risk reduction and resilience projects\u00a0across the commonwealth.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how\u00a0the state\u00a0is tackling its flood risk problem with thoughtful planning and long-term funding.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A statewide\u00a0fund for flood preparedness\u00a0nets millions<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2020,\u00a0Virginia\u00a0joined\u00a0the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI)\u00a0\u2014\u00a0a\u00a0multi-state\u00a0carbon emissions cap-and-invest program for the electricity sector\u00a0\u2014\u00a0and\u00a0tied\u00a045% of\u00a0proceeds to\u00a0the\u00a0statewide\u00a0Community Flood Preparedness Fund.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This\u00a0fund\u00a0will\u00a0provide\u00a0capacity building and project implementation\u00a0grants to localities\u00a0that experience\u00a0recurrent\u00a0flooding across Virginia.\u00a0Importantly,\u00a025%\u00a0of\u00a0funding is\u00a0set aside\u00a0for low-income communities.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Last week,\u00a0the second\u00a0RGGI\u00a0auction netted over $20 million for the\u00a0fund,\u00a0bringing the\u00a0total\u00a0pot\u00a0to\u00a0over $40 million\u00a0with\u00a0two more auctions scheduled\u00a0in 2021.\u00a0The fund is projected to generate upwards of $800 million over the course of the next decade for statewide flood resilience\u00a0\u2014\u00a0a\u00a0down payment\u00a0on what Virginia will need to invest.\u00a0And,\u00a0importantly,\u00a0Virginia\u00a0can leverage\u00a0this money with other funding sources to meet the cost-sharing requirements of larger federal programs, multiplying the\u00a0impact.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Localities can now access millions in resilience grants<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Coinciding with these newly available dollars, the\u00a0Department of Conservation and Recreation\u00a0opened the\u00a0<\/span>first\u00a0<\/span>call for applications<\/span><\/a>\u00a0for\u00a0$18 million in grants from\u00a0the\u00a0Community Flood Preparedness Fund.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Because a resilience plan is required for\u00a0future\u00a0project funding, now is the time for localities to apply for capacity building grants to develop\u00a0and update their\u00a0local\u00a0plans.\u00a0Low-income communities are eligible for\u00a0additional support\u00a0to ensure\u00a0technical assistance is available for\u00a0the communities that need\u00a0it the\u00a0most.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Great Egret taking off. Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The fund\u00a0prioritizes\u00a0resilience\u00a0plans and projects that\u00a0invest in\u00a0<\/span>nature-based solutions<\/span><\/a>, such as\u00a0wetland and floodplain restoration, retention ponds and living shorelines.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Local governments can apply until Sept. 3, and there will be two additional rounds before February 2022. Because this is a statewide pool for both coastal and inland communities facing recurrent flooding, all localities should consider preparing applications now to take advantage of this and future rounds.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A forthcoming statewide plan to guide coastal resilience\u00a0investments<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At the state level,\u00a0Virginia\u00a0leaders\u00a0are\u00a0moving forward with the development of a Coastal Resilience Master Plan to guide investments in projects that build flood resilience for coastal communities.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In October 2020, Virginia released a\u00a0<\/span>Coastal Resilience Master Planning Framework<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0inform the\u00a0development of the\u00a0master plan\u00a0set to be released this fall.\u00a0In addition, the\u00a0state and\u00a0its\u00a0consulting team\u00a0will conduct public outreach and stakeholder meetings\u00a0this summer\u00a0to inform development of the plan.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When complete, the Coastal Resilience Master Plan will\u00a0include a framework for identifying and prioritizing potential projects based on the best\u00a0available science. Other states with coastal master plans, like Louisiana and Texas,\u00a0revise\u00a0their plans on a regular schedule\u00a0with updated modeling\u00a0and data, and Virginia should do the same.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nVirginia is taking bold climate action to address flood risk across the state <\/a><\/span>Share on X<\/a><\/span>\n

While RGGI proceeds in the Community\u00a0Flood\u00a0Preparedness Fund will be a primary\u00a0funding\u00a0source for the master plan, they\u00a0won\u2019t\u00a0provide enough resources\u00a0to fully implement the\u00a0plan. Already,\u00a0m<\/span>ultiple\u00a0<\/span>localities across Virginia have identified billions of dollars in flood resilience needs<\/span>.\u00a0To address this\u00a0gap, t<\/span>he\u00a0plan w<\/span>ill\u00a0include\u00a0a\u00a0strategy\u00a0to identify\u00a0innovative\u00a0funding\u00a0solutions and\u00a0<\/span>additional financial resources<\/span>\u00a0to invest in flood resilience\u00a0priorities.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0Community Preparedness Flood Fund provides a unique opportunity to build local capacity\u00a0and implement flood risk reduction projects\u00a0across the commonwealth.\u00a0With this funding source in place and an expected statewide coastal resilience plan,\u00a0Virginia has a solid foundation\u00a0from which to invest in solutions that can make all communities across the\u00a0commonwealth\u00a0more resilient to our growing flood risk.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To\u00a0learn more about the Community Flood Preparedness Fund,\u00a0attend one of the summer Q&A sessions being hosted by the Department of Conservation and Recreation:\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/i>June\u00a015<\/i><\/a><\/span>,\u00a0<\/i>July\u00a015<\/span><\/i><\/a>,\u00a0<\/i><\/strong>Aug.\u00a013<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/i><\/a>.\u00a0Virginians living in an area of flood risk should contact their local elected officials and encourage them to take advantage of this important funding opportunity.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s how VA is tackling its flood risk problem with thoughtful planning and long-term funding. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":147774,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[107017],"tags":[120345,120346,92489,120344,120348,120347],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-12858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-coasts-watersheds","tag-climate-action","tag-coastal-climate","tag-flood-risk","tag-virginia-climate","tag-virginia-coastal-flood","tag-virginia-flood"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t