VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The southeastern part of Virginia Beach near Back Bay is known for flooding during heavy rain and wind events.
However, a first-of-its-kind project for the East Coast and the state of Virginia designed to help mitigate flooding is supposed to address the issue.
For the past three years, Isaiah Thornsley and his mother, Melissa, have lived off Pleasant Ridge Road, where severe flooding at least once every summer has become the norm.
"There’s a road over there that's like, 2 feet underwater—about 1,000 feet of it (the road)," said Isaiah Thornsley while discussing a nearby road.
Last summer, the front of their driveway looked like a lake during a storm last year.
"We've only had one time where the water came up very close to our house. It was probably about four inches from coming up," Melissa Thornsley said.
To help protect homes and roads in the area, a project has been in the works to restore some of the marshland in the Back Bay area in Bonney Cove.
City Councilmember Barbara Henley, who represents the area where the project is set to take place, said certain weather conditions coinciding in the area could create a dire situation.
"If we do get a lot of rain at the same time we have a southerly wind, then we're really in trouble," Henley said.
The project aims to add terraces of trees and aquatic plants to help reduce the effects of wind-driven flooding, which occurs when water flows from the Albemarle Sound into the Back Bay.
However, the project appears to be at a standstill after the city was unable to obtain an environmental permit due to the presence of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV)—essentially, underwater plants in the area where work was set to take place.
"We have not had the submerged aquatic vegetation that we used to have, but they did find a little bit of it in the area where we want to do the marsh terrace," Henley explained. "So that's what stopped our permit. Because they found a little bit of SAV, they said, 'We can't let you do anything to disturb the SAV.'"
The Virginia Marine Resources Commission has guidance that does not allow projects to disturb underwater plants, even if the project aims to restore plants in the area.
Now, a fully-funded project that has been years in the making sits in idle waters as city leaders seek to involve state officials.
"It would be up to the General Assembly to determine if they can adjust the regulations to protect the area while allowing us to proceed with this particular project," Henley said.
While the delay is disappointing for some, neighbors expressed appreciation that efforts are being made to address the flooding issue.
"It's good to see that someone, or a group of people, is trying to make a change or bring light to the issue," Isaiah Thornsley said.
