2. Fairfax County Significant Rainfall Events
TS Hanna September 2008
Dearborn Drive, Falls Church
TS Lee September 2011
Burke Lake Road, Burke
https://patch.com/virginia/burke/
TS Hanna September 2008
Byron Avenue, Springfield
Storm July 2018
Woodburn Road
Annandale
Whether forecasted tropical storms or sudden downpours,
significant rainfall events have impacted all parts of Fairfax County
TS Lee September 2011
Mount Vernon
TS Lee September 2011
Sunset Hills, Reston
https://www.washingtonpost.com
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3. History of Stormwater Management in Fairfax County
Year Challenge Solution
1940s Nuisance Flooding Stormwater Conveyance Pipe System
1960s Stream Degradation from Pipe Discharges Pro-Rata Share to Fund Off-Site Needs
1970s Construction Site Erosion Degrading Streams Local Erosion and Sediment Control Program
1970s Floodplain Encroachments Development Restrictions in Floodplain
1980s
More Efficient, Cost Effective, & Comprehensive
Stormwater Management Master Drainage Plans
Water Supply Protection Overlay District and BMP Requirement
Regional Stormwater Management Plan
Detention Requirements
1990s Increased Water Quality Protection NPDES-Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Permit
Stormwater BMPs Requirement
Chesapeake Bay Preservation Ordinance and Resource Protection Areas
2000s Stream Protection Stream Physical Assessment
Watershed Management Plans
Increased Water Quality Regulations Stormwater Tax
FEMA Flood Insurance CRS Program Improved from Rating of 8 to 6 (up to 20% discount)
2019 Climate Change ?? Intense Localized Storms 3333
3
5. Options to Address Flooding Concerns
Option
This option will help address flooding of:
Yard Road Structures
Structures in
Floodplain
Enhance overland relief protection/floodproof home
Improve stormwater conveyance system
Upsize stormwater conveyance system
Upgrade existing road culverts
Property acquisition
More stringent requirements for infill development
Administrative/Financial provisions
Little Benefit
Positive Benefit
Sometimes Helps
(site and design
dependent)
5
6. Existing Development
Enhance Overland Relief Protection
Provide overland relief path to meet current design standards
Include a factor of safety to address changing climate patterns
Place path in an easement on plat
Can be coupled with floodproofing
This option will address flooding of:
Yard Road Structures Floodplain
Advantages
1. Overland relief paths tend to have
greater capacity
2. Easements would more readily
identify flow path to future owners
3. Less disruptive than many
alternatives
Challenges
1) Water still flows across
property and in roads
2) Large areas on properties in
easements
3) Resident actions occasionally
block flow paths - fences
4) Enforcement
5) Floodproofing costs vary widely
6
7. Existing Development
Improve Stormwater Conveyance System
This option will address flooding of:
Yard Road Structural Floodplain
Install a stormwater conveyance system where none exists
Improve inadequately sized pipes and open channels
Older neighborhood with no
stormwater management vs. newer
subdivision
Advantages
1) Conveys the high frequency, low
magnitude storms
2) Provides defined paths for
waterflow
3) Can provide protection to
structures during routine storms
Challenges
1) Significant rain events overwhelm
system
2) Concentrated flow at end of pipe
can cause erosion
3) Moves problem downstream
4) Identifying land for detention
areas
5) Can require extensive land
acquisitions
6) Existing utility conflicts
7) Limited space between homes
8) Cost – Franklin Park >$800/LF
7
8. Existing Development/New Development/Redevelopment
Upsize Stormwater Conveyance System
This option will address flooding of:
Yard Road Structures Floodplain
Upsize existing system to above current design standards to convey
larger storms
Advantages
1. Conveys more storms in pipe or
paved channel
Challenges
1) Construction on developed properties
2) Significant Utility conflicts
3) Cost – one project is $2800/LF
4) Events can still overwhelm the system
5) More concentrated flow downstream
Storm Pipe Diameter Cost/ft
.
2-Year 33” $200
10-Year 42” $300
25-Year 48” $350
100-Year 54” $430
Storm Sewer Pipe Sizing for a 12-Acre
Residential Subdivision
8
9. Existing Development
Upgrade Existing Road Culverts
This option will address flooding of:
Yard Road Structures Floodplain
Upgrade existing road culverts to meet or exceed current design
standards
Includes VDOT maintained infrastructure – requires change to
existing Board Policy
Advantages
1) Protects roads
2) Reduces upstream backups
3) Reduce vehicle flood losses
Challenges
1) Utility conflicts
2) Land acquisition
3) Current Board Policy
4) May require stream stabilization at
the outfall
5) Cost – Several estimates about
$1M/crossing
Since FY2016, Fairfax County
and VDOT have partnered on
51 projects totaling $4M in
state funds to address
stormwater drainage problems
9
10. Existing Development
Property Acquisition
This option will address flooding of:
Yard Road Structures Floodplain
Voluntary acquisition of homes with repetitive flood loss
Apply for FEMA Repetitive Loss Program
Use property to provide floodplain storage or stormwater detention
Advantages
1) Eliminates structures that flood
2) Potentially use vacant property for
detention or water quality
Challenges
1) Vacant properties require maintenance
2) Very few homes would qualify for FEMA
hazard mitigation grants
3) Costs
4) Disruption to owners
5) Purchase and demolition
10
11. Redevelopment
More Stringent Requirements for Infill Development
This option will address flooding of:
Yard Road Structural Floodplain
• Detain 2.5 inches from new impervious area
• Extend the limit of overland relief review and if relief is
inadequate, require on-site detention
• Limit the amount of allowable impervious cover on residential
lots
Advantages
1) Development helps fund
improvements
2) Reduces cumulative impact of
development
Challenges
1) Improvements are
incremental as development
occurs
2) Applies only when permits
are required
3) Space for onsite detention
4) Releasing stored water
5) Homeowner maintenance
11
12. New/Redevelopment
Administrative/Financial Provisions
• Create an overlay district with development restrictions for flood prone areas
• Restrict basements in floodplains and adjacent to overland relief paths
• Remove grandfathered permitted use and special exceptions uses in both minor and major floodplains and increase
setback requirements
• Encourage homeowners outside of the FEMA floodplain to purchase flood insurance and install floodproofing
measures
• Educate homeowners on keeping overland relief path free of obstructions
• Map minor floodplains (drainage areas between 70 and 360 acres)
This option will address flooding of:
Yard Road Structures Floodplain
Challenges
1) What defines flood prone?
2) Overlay district does not address current issues
3) Potentially restricts use of land
4) Potentially impacts structure
Advantages
1) Lower cost
2) Does not move problem downstream
3) Flood insurance provides a proactive approach
45 Acres
12
13. Stormwater Management Project Priorities
The County currently prioritizes stormwater management projects based on the
1997 Policy for Prioritizing Stormwater Control Projects for Funding Consideration:
1. Mandated by state and federal regulation and projects that address
critical/emergency dam issues
2. Structural damage by flood water or being undermined by severe erosion
3. Stormwater quality improvements in conformance with the Chesapeake Bay
initiatives or VPDES permit
4. Severe streambank and channel erosion
5. Moderate or minor streambank and channel erosion
6. Yard flooding
7. Road flooding
2006 Board adopted – “Road projects not related to protection of streambeds or
banks or water quality will not be funded out of the stormwater and watershed
budget.”
13
14. Stormwater Design Storms
10-Year, 2-Hour Design Storm
• Total estimated precipitation= 2.56
inches
• Average residential roof size= 2,000
square feet
• Total Rainfall Volume= 3,200 gallons
• Number of 55-gallon rain barrels= 58
• Cistern size= 18 ft x 30 ft x 6 ft (like
an in-ground pool)
• 70-acre neighborhood estimated
rainfall volume= 3,535,000 gallons
• Equivalent to more than 5 Olympic
Size Swimming Pools https://www.theatlantic.com
Intensity Duration Rainfall
Recommend 10-Year 2-Hour 2.5”
200-Year 30-
Minute
2.5”
High Risk
Dam
Standards
24-Hour 34”
7/8/2019
Storm
>1000-
Year
30-
Minute
3.6”
1000-
Year
1-Hour 5.3”
Comparisons
100-Year 30-
Minute
2.3”
100-Year 2-Hour 4.0”
100-Year 24-Hour 8.4”
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15. Policy Discussion
1. Review/Define County’s Role
o Houses in Floodplains- traditionally very limited –exception Huntington and Belle View (tidal flooding)
o Neighborhoods without stormwater infrastructure or easements – traditionally very limited –exception
neighborhood improvement projects (Patton Terrace)
o Neighborhoods with infrastructure and stormwater easements – After a flooding event the county
evaluates if improvements are appropriate including constructing or reestablishing overland relief –
exception Hayfield Farms
o Roadway flooding not funded with Stormwater Funds
2. What are the Priorities?
o Structures/ Houses ?
o Yards?
o Residential Roads?
3. Managing Risk – What Should we Design for?
o Potentially any design can be exceeded by a storm
o When upsizing pipes should we use the 100-year storm?
o What should we require new development to design to?
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16. Policy Discussion -Recommendations
A. Overland relief
o Allow yards to be used for overland flows
o Allow roads to be used for overland flows
o Require overland relief paths to be designated on plats
o Map minor floodplains (between 70 and 2-300 acres)
o Utilize floodproofing practices where feasible – on structures that have experienced flooding
o Restrict basements in floodplains and adjacent to overland relief paths
B. Design Recommendations
o When upsizing pipes due to flooding, design to the 100-year storm
o Develop standards that require new impervious surfaces, including by right infills, to capture 2.5”
C. Review cost versus provided protection
o Upsizing pipes is frequently more expensive than purchasing the houses that flooded
o Upsizing pipes between houses is disruptive and risky
o Few options exist to protect structures/houses in floodplains
o Consider purchasing when solutions are more expensive
D. 6. Encourage the use of flood insurance
16
17. Additional Information
For additional information, please contact
www.fairfaxcounty.gov/publicworks
Catie Torgersen, Planner
Stormwater Planning Division, DPWES
703-324-5732
Catherine.Torgersen@fairfaxcounty.gov
17
Notas do Editor
-7/8/19 storm is on everyone’s mind- significantly impacted Dranesville and Mason Districts
-past tropical storms and similar severe storm events that have impacted other parts of the county including Springfield, Mount Vernon, Providence, and Hunter Mill Districts
-older neighborhoods with no stormwater controls (detention) and/or conveyance more at risk
1940s- stormwater runoff considered a “nuisance” and buried to keep it out of sight
1960s- Stream degradation from the pipe system discharges led to the adoption of the pro-rata share system to fund off-site needs
1970s- restrictions to development encroachment into the floodplain
1970s- Developed master drainage plans to solve flooding, erosion, sedimentation, and other environmental problems, developed E&S control program (1974- first Virginia Erosion and Sediment Control Handbook)
1980s and 1990s- Focus on water quality with regulations, ordinances, zoning changes, programs and permits aimed at improving water quality in our surface waters
-1982 Water Supply Protection Overlay District- downzoning in Occoquan watershed (1 dwelling per five acres) and more strict reductions for phosphorus (50% reduction)
-1988 Virginia Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act requires water quality protection measures for waters that drain to the Chesapeake Bay
-1989 Regional Stormwater Management Plan (regional ponds to address water quality on a countywide basis)
-1990 Phase I NPDES-MS4 regulation
-1993 Fairfax County Chesapeake Bay Preservation Ordinance and delineation of Resource Protection Areas
-1993 BMPs required on all new development (taken from Little Hunting Creek Watershed Management Plan)
Fairfax County solution driven- not quick, not easy, but willing to put the time and effort into making meaningful change
-Dead Run Study- from 2002 to 2015, 39% of analyzed parcels experienced an increase in impervious cover (9% of parcels had impervious areas which more than doubled over the course of the study)
-Images of Patton Terrace neighborhood
-Overland relief is through yards and roads, so it will not help flooding in these areas.
-Current design standard- 100-year storm cannot flood structures
-Overland relief goes through yards and roads
Images:
Kings Park- property sits in sump with no overland relief
Cabot’s Point, Reston- MSMD cut the curb and provided a cobblestone OLR channel
Conveyance system installation will relieve stormwater flow on yards and roads, no focus on overland relief so unclear whether structures will continue to flood
Images compare neighborhood near Chesterbrook Gardens (McLean) with a newer subdivision in McLean with pipe network, detention, and easements
-If you upsize pipe to 100-year storm, you are protecting yards, roads, and structures
-NOAA Atlas 14 Vol 2 Version 3 Appendix A.3 Time series trend analysis associated with NOAA Atlas 14 Vol 2: 1-day annual maximum time series were free from linear trends and from shifts in mean for most of the stations in the project area. The results showed little observable or geographically consistent impact of change in statistics used to estimate precipitation frequency, but it may be that the NOAA rainfall data did not pick up hyper-local rainstorms like 7/8/19 to include in the trend analysis.
-Images are:
-Luton Place flood mitigation
-Wayne Road project (2008)
-Pipe costs rounded values from Stormwater Maintenance LLC annual construction contract
-If you adequately size the culvert, you reduce flood water conditions on yards, roads, and structures
-VDOT culvert design standards (VDOT Drainage Manual 8.3.2.1 Flood Frequency):
-interstate 50-year flood frequency
-primary/arterial 25-year
-secondary 10-year
-Images of Chesterbrook/N. Albemarle flooding (Dranesville) and Chowan Avenue (Mason)
Chowan Avenue study- estimate for the prime option (sizing culverts to the 100-year storm) was $1,500,000
-Detention provided on acquired properties may help alleviate flooding in yards and on roads
-Floodplain ordinance requires vertical freeboard of 18 inches above the 100-year water surface elevation and horizontal distance of 15 feet from the 100-year water surface
A preliminary anal
-Image of Luton Place- Initially tried to plant native landscaping and provide a sump, but converted to grass after community push back
Retrofits are expensive, disruptive, and could take years to implement. Board can implement more stringent infill requirements today to ensure residential redevelopment does not make flooding worse
-Detain 2.56 inches from new impervious area on infill lots= 2.56 inches is the total rainfall volume for the 10-year, 2-hour design storm
-Pilot program, LDS will evaluate after 6 months
-Tucker Avenue old areaway drains connected to the sanitary sewer took on water during the 7/8/19 storm and overwhelmed the system, causing overflows
-It is illegal to connect drains to the wastewater system but currently not required to disconnect when applying for a building permit
-Unlike subdivisions, there are no stormwater infrastructure upgrades associated with infill development other than pro-rata share contribution
-PFM requires subdivisions with lots 1/3 acre or less to:
-Quantities of surface runoff greater than 2 cfs that flows through lots must be picked up and conveyed in a closed storm drainage system… [for lot size less than 18,000 sf] (PFM 6-1108.1 B)
-Lots generally should be graded in such a manner that surface runoff does not cross more than 3 lots before it is collected in a storm sewer system[for lots less than 18,000 sf] (PFM 6-1108.1 C)
-Have methods to extend overland relief review- utilize plan review tool and new LiDAR data to minimize design/review time)
Limit the amount of allowable impervious cover on residential lots by increasing front and rear yard surfaced area restrictions or increasing setback requirements
Image: infill lot with BMPs to meet proposed detention requirement. Each color denotes drainage area to BMPs (green and yellow go to stormwater planters and blue drains to bioretention)
-These options depend on the site/neighborhood and design dependent. The outreach efforts are either preventative measures (keeping overland relief path open) or proactive (recognizing you may flood and getting insurance or protecting low points of entry)
Challenges- how do you define flood prone? know about those with inadequate or no stormwater infrastructure? Any neighborhood that receives record rainfall events has the potential to flood. Storms so localized difficult to identify all areas
-Homeowners outside of the floodplain can purchase flood insurance at a reasonable rate
-Images: Annandale Acres neighborhood with no stormwater controls and little conveyance
- Stormwater Tax: Based on the average 2018 assessment of $547,219, a property owner will pay $14.82 per month, or $177.85 annually.
-Stormwater funds and road policy from January 2006- stated in the Board Summary from the Popes Head Creek Watershed Management Plan adoption
-Stormwater Priority policy from April 28, 1997 memo to the Board on the Revision to the County Policy Regarding Criteria and Procedures from Establishing Stormwater Control Project Priorities for Funding Consideration
-Stormwater infrastructure designed by routing various modeled storms
-the design duration varies depending on time of concentration, which is influenced by drainage area size
-Focus on storm interval, not duration