Flood Protection Program Implementation Ripple Effect
In November 2021, the City of Virginia Beach received the support of residents who voted to authorize a $567.5M bond referendum to fund the design and construction of Phase 1 Flood Protection projects located throughout the City. Since that time, staff has been developing and implementing the Program to facilitate meeting the 10-year deadline for the implementation of over 40 projects in Phase 1.
The Flood Protection Program organization includes a Governance Team which consists of senior City leadership who help guide the program and ensure coordination among City departments. Development of the program included risk identification and process improvements. In the early stages of program implementation, the Governance Team identified potential program risks that could impact the implementation of the projects. Working groups were created to develop strategies and process improvements that help to mitigate the risks and enhance project implementation.
Leading up to the bond referendum, the City launched the Ripple Effect outreach campaign to communicate with citizens about the risks of flooding and the proposed projects. Ongoing and frequent communication is key for continued public support of the Flood Protection Program. Outreach components include regular updates to City Council, monthly meetings of a Citizen Oversight Board, program and project webpages, individual project public meetings, videos and blog posts on social media, articles written for national and regional publications, regular emails to City staff affected by the program, and flood visualization tools based on modeling. The Ripple Effect program and project webpages can be viewed at https://www.vbgov.com/rippleeffect.
There will likely be more challenges as the City continues to implement the Flood Protection Program projects, but the end ripple effect will be improved resiliency to flooding.
Author Bio
Toni P. Utterback, PE is the Stormwater Engineering Center Administrator for the Department of Public Works at the City of Virginia Beach. As the Stormwater Engineering Center Administrator, she oversees two divisions: project management and technical services. These divisions are responsible for managing the City’s Flood Protection Program capital projects, which is the largest capital program in the City, as well as the sea level rise adaptation planning and stormwater master planning programs. Toni has been with the City of Virginia Beach since May 2009 and is a Virginia registered professional engineer and a graduate from Old Dominion University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering.
