Community Flood Resilience Planning
The City of Fairfax is developing a flood resilience plan to provide the community with an analysis of the most vulnerable areas and an overview of the opportunities to address flooding, with a focus on using cost-effective nature-based solutions where possible.
The plan will provide the city with points toward ranking in FEMA’s Community Rating System, a program which can provide discounts on flood insurance premiums in jurisdictions that exceed FEMA’s minimum standards for floodplain management.
The majority of the project is funded through a state Community Flood Preparedness Fund (CFPF) grant. Developing the plan qualifies the city for future CFPF funding to implement projects that help address flooding.
There will be opportunities to provide input on the city’s flood resilience plan through this summer, and the project team plans to present a draft plan to the public this fall. The final draft of the plan will be presented to city council for adoption by the end of the year.
A critical part of developing the city’s flood resiliency plan is public input. Please use the tools below to provide comments and ask questions.
Review the public survey results.
Comments
It would have been nice to know about this meeting beforehand.
Ack I was out of town during the public meeting, I appreciate the plan and presentation. Any upcoming events related to this initiative?
Fairfax historically did not flood. What changed? We cut down trees, built roads and buildings, compacted the soil and planted grass, and the rain water could no longer soak into the ground. Then we channeled the streams, We can improve the situation by reducing paved area, reducing soil compaction, planting trees and protecting and restoring woodlands, floodplains, wetlands.
This is one of the many ways life could be improved with a removal of any mandatory minimums on parking. Along with that, perhaps an incentive for converting existing parking either to green space or to permeable surface where spaces are deemed necessary. All you have to do is drive around town and see that many parking lots are largely empty at any given time (see any strip mall or grocery store). That is a lot of pavement stopping water from going into the ground where it needs to go, to say nothing of the heat-island effect.
Some ideas:
Encourage mulching leaves into lawns to improve water retention and reduce runoff. Encourage leaving leaves under shrubs and perennials for the same reasons.
Ensure downspouts empty onto pervious surfaces not impervious surfaces or directly into storm drains.
No more building in flood plains. When properties become available, revert to natural flood plain.
Identify places where flood waters could be allowed to spread out safely and recharge groundwater.
How to control runoff and flooding?
Trees – Preserving and enhancing tree cover
Streams – Preserving and expanding streamside vegetated buffers
Aquifers – Permitting rainfall to recharge groundwater and not become runoff
Flood Resilience Plan Conclusion
Kickoff Presentation 4-19-2023
Who's Listening
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Phone 703-273-6073 Email satoshi.eto@fairfaxva.gov
