Department of Conservation and Recreation
Conserve. Protect. Enjoy.
Department of Conservation and Recreation
Flooding is one of the most common disasters that occurs in Virginia, impacting people, property and the environment. Over the past six decades, more than 62% of federal disaster declarations in Virginia have involved flood impacts according to Federal Emergency Management Administration data. Since 1976, flood insurance claims in Virginia have totaled more than $744 million. In the decades to come, flooding in Virginia is expected to become more frequent and costly because of sea-level rise and changing precipitation patterns.
Flood resilience is the capability to anticipate, prepare, respond to and recover from flood hazards to minimize damage to social well-being, health, the economy and the environment.
DCR's Office of Resilience Planning team is responsible for the following activities:
Developing, administering and implementing the Virginia Flood Protection Master Plan and Coastal Resilience Master Plan. These plans represent a coordinated interagency and intergovernmental strategy to address our current and future flood risks that impact all Virginians.
The Department’s flood resilience mission is to mitigate the impacts of severe and repetitive flooding, in turn minimizing loss of life, property damage, and the negative impacts of flooding on the environment. The flood resilience master plans support the Commonwealth to accomplish this mission by collecting data on historic and forecasted conditions of flooding, developing risk and vulnerability analyses to understand projected impacts, and identifying and prioritizing strategies for action to reduce vulnerability and bolster resilience. DCR’s flood resilience planning responsibilities are outlined in the Code of Virginia.
Flood resilience planning occurs at two different scales – statewide through the Virginia Flood Protection Master Plan (VFPMP), and regional, including through the Coastal Resilience Master Plan. Statewide and regional plans differ not only in scale, but also in scope. While the statewide VFPMP focuses on directing state government policy to build flood resilience, the state’s regional plans aim to provide a collaborative format for identifying and prioritizing flood resilience vulnerabilities and priorities for resilience actions that the state will support. As plans are updated on a recurring cycle, the more detailed regional master plans will provide key inputs to inform the statewide VFPMP.
Conducting ongoing community outreach and engagement. Achieving resilience to flooding requires the participation of all stakeholders and cannot be accomplished by government alone. By embracing a Whole Community approach to resilience, we seek to engage the public to both ensure our planning efforts reflect the diverse needs and priorities of all Virginians, as well as to educate and empower communities and individuals with the knowledge and resources to take action to increase their resilience.
Coordinating flood resilience activities across the Commonwealth. Many sectors across the Commonwealth are impacted by flooding. From roadways that are damaged during flash flooding events, to lost crop productivity on farmlands due to saltwater intrusion, the impacts and changing dynamics of flooding touch many state government responsibilities. DCR’s ongoing efforts to coordinate state agency activities include hosting an annual Virginia Flood Preparedness Coordination Meeting for state agency representatives and other stakeholders.
Providing access to the best available flood and flood damage reduction data. The state’s flood resilience planning efforts are developed based on the best available science and data to tell us where and how different geographies in the state are likely to be impacted by flooding today, as well as in the decades to come. DCR makes the data resources it produces for these efforts available to the public so that Virginians across the Commonwealth can anticipate, prepare and respond to flood risk. More information is available in our Resources and in the Coastal Resilience Web Explorer.
Sign up to receive our quarterly newsletter to receive updates from our team.
For public comment or information, please email: Flood.Resilience@dcr.virginia.gov
Matthew Dalon, PE, CFM
Resilience Planning Program Manager
matt.dalon@dcr.virginia.gov
Carolyn Heaps-Pecaro, CFM
Senior Resilience Planner
carolyn.heaps-pecaro@dcr.virginia.gov
Emily Breen
Resilience Planner
Emily.breen@dcr.virginia.gov
Ellie Plisko
Virginia Commonwealth University Wilder Fellow
Ellie.plisko@dcr.virginia.gov
