Sea Level Wise Adaption Strategy Draft Report

Download the entire 306 page 106.6MB PDF report here.

A few highlights.

Executive Summary
In the last five years, the City of Virginia Beach has completed a comprehensive effort to develop strategies to respond to sea level rise and related increases in flooding. The study, known as Sea Level Wise, has produced a wealth of information to understand what challenges the City will face and develop diverse strategies to pro-actively reduce the impacts. This document presents the findings of the Sea Level Wise effort. . . .

Report includes:

A Call To Action
Maintaining Good Credit
The City’s flood risks are also recognized by organizations that rate the financial strength and borrowing ability of municipalities.

In 2014, the credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Service Inc. sent a questionnaire to the City. It asked about the City’s sea level rise vulnerabilities, expenses, and plans to address future impacts. Thanks to the newly created Sea Level Wise program, the City was able to speak to proactive flood mitigation efforts underway, stating:

“The City firmly believes that the cost of damage done by ignoring sea level rise will far exceed the cost of mitigation.”

Satisfactory responses to these questions has allowed Virginia Beach to maintain a AAA credit rating. This high credit rating is essential for the affordable financing of City improvement projects through municipal bonds.

Page 8 Introduction.

Page 18 Community Engagement.

Page 46 Aging Infrastructure.

Page 58 Where are the losses occurring. Note Shore Drive area.

Page 72 City-Wide Objectives.

Page 78 Preserve Environmental Assets.

Page 104 Regulate Building and Development.

Page 110 Support Risk Mitigating Interventions. Note: “Priority areas for supporting risk-mitigating interventions at the parcel-level.”

Page 166 Lynnhaven. Note: “Over the last 40 years, this historically
agrarian community has undergone extensive development in both commercial and residential areas. However, the loss of naturalized landscapes has only served to make flooding worse, as development has formed on manufactured land and has surrounded the numerous water ways, rivers, tributaries, and bays that make up this region.”