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Storm-Related Flood Mitigation – A Louisiana Example for Virginia

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sherlockj
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by James C. Sherlock

I have worked for at least ten years — many of those with now-Attorney General Miyares when he was my delegate — to get Virginia to step up to the Louisiana model for flood control.

Louisiana. The Louisiana model is a state-federal partnership in which the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is the federal executive agent in the Civil Works program and the state is the non-federal sponsor, a role with planning, funding and operational management responsibilities.

Today Louisiana celebrated the completion of the Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System (HSDRRS) that will defend the Greater New Orleans area against severe storms, including those with a one-percent chance of occurring in any given year.

HSDRRS is of similar complexity to a system to defend Hampton Roads.

Five things to know about using the Louisiana approach in Virginia:

  • The Civil Works program is the only way the feds will pay 65% of the costs;
  • The Corps of Engineers is by far the nation’s leading flood mitigation engineering organization;
  • There is no local jurisdiction or combination of local jurisdictions in Virginia that is capable of stepping up to the non-federal sponsor role;
  • In Louisiana, the velocity of federal funding in the state’s economy produced more state tax money than the total state contribution; and
  • The General Assembly has rejected legislation that enables state participation in the Civil Works program multiple times. Each rejection has cited the fantasy that municipalities can work together to serve as non-federal sponsor. Hampton Roads jurisdictions worked on that for years and surrendered the effort as a lost cause. Why? One reason: Regional planning authorities have neither the authority nor the resources to serve as operations managers. And never will. For a multi-jurisdictional project of that scale, only the state does.

The Civil Works program is the only feasible flood mitigation solution for Hampton Roads. The Youngkin administration, the General Assembly and Virginia’s congressional delegation will have to coordinate to make it happen. But Louisiana has shown it can happen.

Hampton Roads’ people, its economy, the economy of the state, and the massive federal installations and network of private companies in Hampton Roads that support national security depend on that solution.

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14 responses to “Storm-Related Flood Mitigation – A Louisiana Example for Virginia”

  1. f/k/a_tmtfairfax Avatar
    f/k/a_tmtfairfax

    As a former resident of NoVA, I don’t buy the argument that what happens in Hampton Roads would negatively affect NoVA. Take Hampton Roads’ share of the surplus and fund a flood control project. Uncle Sam needs to fund its own expenses re the Naval Base. But NoVA gets screwed enough.

    1. James C. Sherlock Avatar
      James C. Sherlock

      That is certainly big picture thinking.

  2. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
    Dick Hall-Sizemore

    Even the 35% portion would cost big bucks. Rather than pushing to give up hundreds of millions of dollars in tax cuts, Youngkin could have proposed putting a large slice of the surplus aside to fund a flood control project for Hampton Roads, which would ultimately benefit the whole state. Unfortunately, it is going take a Katrina-scale catastrophe in Hampton Roads before Virginia will do anything.

    1. James C. Sherlock Avatar
      James C. Sherlock

      I don’t disagree that the state’s attention is elsewhere. But I’ll continue to occasionally put the Civil Works program out there in the hope that proven solutions will convince. I thought the completion of HSDRRS to be such an occasion.

      There is no national defense infrastructure in New Orleans.

      The world’s largest naval base, the Newport News shipyard and their smaller brethren should, in a rational decision process in Washington, give Hampton Roads the biggest possible leg up if Virginia pursues it.

  3. Nancy Naive Avatar
    Nancy Naive

    Of course, building above sea level has always been a plus…

    In some respect, we’re using the Dutch model. First, you build windmills…

    1. James C. Sherlock Avatar
      James C. Sherlock

      Damn naval bases and ports anyway. Who says they need to be built at sea level?

      1. Nancy Naive Avatar
        Nancy Naive

        I would prefer the Normandy model. Take those worthless aircraft carriers and, like the concrete ships…

        1. James C. Sherlock Avatar
          James C. Sherlock

          And the sailors and longshoremen can climb up and down the cliffs. Brilliant. That is why you are Nancy Naive and no one else will ever be.

          1. Nancy Naive Avatar
            Nancy Naive

            That’s why you’re the SME of everything and no one else is. Norfolk’s more like London than New Orleans. Virginia Beach is more like Grand Isle.

            Tidal gates would help Norfolk. Virginia Beach can’t be saved.

          2. James C. Sherlock Avatar
            James C. Sherlock

            Like London? Here is London. https://th.bing.com/th/id/R.e4952bc17c0528f098c34a4778fad662?rik=%2bj3dwS7OwCpQzg&pid=ImgRaw&r=0 Note the coast and the naval installations.

          3. Nancy Naive Avatar
            Nancy Naive

            Where is the New Orleans Naval Base? Jacksonville can have ’em. Or is the choice Norfolk NOB Island, or Norfolk the City?

            Ya know, at every great sinking, there comes a time to stop bailing and look for things that float.

            Of course, for you personally, if you’ve never seen them crib a house, ya gotta see it. They scrape out underneath, cut the water and sewer lines, and start jacking and cribbing. Lift the whole damned thing 8 feet if they want to without cracking a tile or brick. Whip in a new foundation, and voila, you’re good for another century. Go high enough and you can garage under.

            This is high tech. My brother-in-law used to use railroad ties and bottle jacks. Follow up with helical pilings and new block.
            https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gKn2q7N_RDQ&noapp=1

          4. James C. Sherlock Avatar
            James C. Sherlock

            Naval Station Mayport Fl. where the ships are based is just north of Jacksonville Beach. It was, last time I looked, at sea level.

          5. Nancy Naive Avatar
            Nancy Naive

            Uh yep. But then they’re no longer a constraint to our solution. They become Florida’s constraint to their problem.

            “Solve regional flooding” versus “Solve regional flooding subject to keeping the Navy happy.” One will cost orders of magnitude more.

          6. James C. Sherlock Avatar
            James C. Sherlock

            Actually there is no difference. The Navy is already for the flood protection of its facilities and the Naval Engineering Command has the lead. The Navy’s interest in off-base protections is for its people and its suppliers, not its facilities. That matches the interests of the Navy with the interests of the governments of the United States, Virginia and Virginia municipalities. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has the expertise, scale and mission to support all of that if the state will step up to serve as non-federal sponsor. For the greens, know that USACE is also the enforcer of environmental laws and EPA regulations on the waters of the United States. In their flood mitigation designs, they by law and practice maximize the use of green solutions before considering engineered protection systems.

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