Floodplain Management in Virginia
In 1989, Virginia’s General Assembly enacted the Virginia Flood Damage Reduction Act of 1989. Arising from a number of disastrous floods and coastal storm events, the Act sought to improve Virginia’s flood protection programs and to consolidate all related programs into one agency. In 1987 the coordination of all state floodplain programs was transferred from the Water Control Board to the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). DCR now serves as the manager of the state’s floodplain program and is the designated coordinating agency of the National Flood Insurance Program under the act §10.1-602 as well as a governor's memorandum released in July of 1997.
Presently, the Floodplain Management Program staff works with localities to establish and enforce floodplain management zoning. Localities employ the program's model ordinances as a starting point for their own. The model ordinances reflect minimum standards. As their name implies, these ordinances serve only as a model, and localities are permitted to enact more restrictive standards than the minimums expressed in the model ordinances. Additionally, the state employs the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code to establish construction standards for structures proposed within FEMA-designated flood hazard areas.
Floodplain zoning regulates how development is allowed within floodplains. The program's main goal is to protect people and their property from unwise floodplain development. It also protects society from costs associated with developed floodplains. Two very important documents related to Virginia's floodplain management are the Floodplain Management Plan for the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Virginia Local Official's Guide to Floodplain Management. Both documents were released in 2005 and are comprehensive sources of information for citizens and local officials. FEMA's Multi-Year Flood Hazard Identification Plan (MHIP) outlines the federal government's 5-year plan for providing updated digital flood hazard data and maps for areas of flood risk.
