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Newport News Interim Local Resilience Plan
drainage infrastructure ranges from 12-inch diameter driveway
culverts up to 73-foot-wide open channels, all ultimately discharging
into tidally influenced water bodies.
The City's aging stormwater system presents a logistical challenge,
requiring increased inspections, maintenance, rehabilitation, and
replacement over the next several decades (Figure 2). Newport
News continues to update and modernize the stormwater
infrastructure in the older urbanized areas, given that historical
design standards and regulations did not account for future
upstream volumes or existing downstream capacity. Due to the age
of some of the infrastructure, in some locations this historical
infrastructure was constructed without a formal design.
Given the City's location along the coast, the projected SLR will
impact many City watersheds dramatically. The City is experiencing
more frequent and intense storm events that are increasing localized
and nuisance flooding. It continues to proactively integrate these
climate change realities and additional State legislative and policy
requirements into its programs to protect life, limb, and property Figure 2. The City’s Aging Stormwater
System Built to Meet Historically Less
within the Newport News jurisdictional boundary.
Stringent Design Standards Presents a
Logistical Challenge (Photo: Harlech Place,
Purpose of a Resilience Plan August 2020)
In 2016, the Virginia General Assembly enacted the Virginia
Shoreline Resiliency Fund. In 2020, the fund’s priorities were expanded to address inland flooding, and the fund was
renamed the Virginia Community Flood Preparedness Fund (CFPF). Localities must use CFPF money “primarily for
the purpose of implementing flood prevention and protection projects and studies in areas that are subject to
recurrent flooding as confirmed by a locality-certified floodplain manager.” 1 Projects in low-income geographic areas,
provide community-scale hazard mitigation, and integrate nature-based solutions are prioritized.
Local government capital projects only qualify for CFPF if the locality has a Virginia Department of Conservation and
Recreation (DCR) approved local Resilience Plan. Local Resilience Plans may be a single document or a
combination of documents that together address nine specific elements:
1. Project Based,
2. Nature Based,
3. Social Equity,
4. Flooding/Repetitive Loss,
5. Property Acquisition,
6. Debris Management,
7. Substantial Damage/Improvement,
8. Regional Coordination & Schedule, and
9. Best Science & Mapping.
Descriptions of each of these Local Resilience Plan elements are presented in Appendix A.
1 2023 Funding Manual for the Virginia Community Flood Preparedness Fund
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