{"id":13361,"date":"2021-12-10T11:47:43","date_gmt":"2021-12-10T16:47:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/?p=13361"},"modified":"2025-06-05T13:47:22","modified_gmt":"2025-06-05T17:47:22","slug":"virginia-beach-bond-model-cities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/2021\/12\/10\/virginia-beach-bond-model-cities\/","title":{"rendered":"Virginia Beach\u2019s new flood bond can be a model for other cities. Here\u2019s how."},"content":{"rendered":"

Virginia Beach,\u00a0the most populous city in the commonwealth with\u00a038 miles of shoreline,\u00a0faces increasing flood risk due to rising sea levels and more intense storms. Recurrent flooding\u00a0hurts\u00a0critical sectors including the military and tourism, both major contributors to the local economy.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fortunately, Virginia Beach voters took an important step to reduce flood risk in their community by passing a historic $567.5 million flood mitigation bond last month. This funding will not only reduce the city\u2019s flood risk \u2014 it will also boost the economy and create thousands of jobs.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As other cities across the country grapple with how to pay for\u00a0the increasing costs of\u00a0flood protection projects, here\u00a0are\u00a0four\u00a0ways\u00a0this bond\u00a0serves as\u00a0a model\u00a0for\u00a0success.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

1. The bond expedites desperately needed flood resilience projects.\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Urgent action is needed now to protect Virginia Beach communities and businesses.\u00a0The city has already taken steps to identify and begin addressing its flood risk in its comprehensive plan, which identified $1.3 billion in flood mitigation and resilience funding needs for the next 15 years. But with current funding levels, the plan would take 40 years to complete.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The recently passed bond will allow Virginia Beach to accelerate 21 flood mitigation projects across six major areas of the city by 2031. The city will reinvest any remaining funds in additional flood resilience projects.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The city\u2019s Sea Level Wise study estimates\u00a0that the cost of inaction by the 2070s could reach\u00a0nearly $330 million annually.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2. These investments will create economic growth at a minimal cost to homeowners.\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

A recent Old Dominion University\u00a0report estimated that accelerating construction\u00a0of all flood mitigation projects in the next 10 years will generate almost $450 million in economic output and create nearly 4,000 new jobs for Virginia Beach. And every dollar invested in these flood mitigation projects will save up to $20 in avoided flood damages\u00a0and economic impacts.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The bond\u00a0will\u00a0be paid for by increasing the real estate tax by 4.3 cents per $100 of assessed house value, costing the median homeowner approximately $115 per year\u00a0\u2014\u00a0a small price to pay for investing in long-term resilience, especially relative to the cost of inaction.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

3. The bond will fund natural infrastructure to build flood resilience. <\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The proposed projects include a variety of drainage improvement projects for critical infrastructure\u00a0\u2014\u00a0including culverts, road elevations and drainage pumps\u00a0\u2014\u00a0as well as\u00a0<\/span>natural infrastructure<\/span><\/a>\u00a0like marsh restoration and converting\u00a0golf course\u00a0greenways and other open areas for water retention during floods.\u00a0Natural infrastructure reduces flood risk while also improving quality of life, creating jobs and providing a cleaner, safer environment for people and wildlife.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While there are some natural infrastructure projects included in the bond proposal, more should be included in conjunction with traditional gray infrastructure to maximize benefits over\u00a0time.\u00a0When\u00a0surveyed, Virginia Beach residents overwhelmingly supported using natural infrastructure and nature-based solutions to mitigate flood risk.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

4. A mix of funding sources provides greater stability. <\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition\u00a0to\u00a0this bond,\u00a0Virginia Beach\u00a0recently received a $3 million grant\u00a0for wetland and floodplain restoration\u00a0from the state\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>Community Flood Preparedness Fund<\/span><\/a>, which collects revenue from Virginia\u2019s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The city is wisely funding flood resilience from a variety of federal, state and local sources to meet the demands of flooding today and in the future. These and other funding mechanisms, including <\/span>environmental\u00a0impact\u00a0bonds<\/span><\/a> and state revolving loan funds, get projects built quickly while also supporting environmental and community co-benefits.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Virginia Beach\u2019s flood bond will reduce community-wide flood risk and keep Virginia Beach open for business.\u00a0It is\u00a0another tool\u00a0in\u00a0the\u00a0funding\u00a0toolbox\u00a0for policymakers to consider\u00a0as they\u00a0implement\u00a0large infrastructure projects that reduce flood risk\u00a0and build resilience to sea level rise and more extreme storms caused by climate change.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How coastal cities can better fund natural infrastructure and protect their residents.<\/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":[120422,120425,120424,120423,120347],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-13361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-coasts-watersheds","tag-flood-bond","tag-floodplain-restoration","tag-virginia-beach-coast","tag-virginia-coast","tag-virginia-flood"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/147774"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13361"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13361\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15874,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13361\/revisions\/15874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13361"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=13361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}