It's well past time to address the failed infrastructure that regularly leads to flooded homes, backyards, garages and public safety concerns. It's about priorities and accountability; ending flooding needs to be a priority, now.
To fix the problem, Jim proposes:
Targeting resources toward the highest-impact capacity projects, identified in the 2016 City of Alexandria Storm Sewer Capacity Analysis (CASSCA) and by Alex311 reports, with an all-of-the-above approach,
Increasing accountability and transparency surrounding the Stormwater Utility Fee,
Proactively managing limited maintenance resources to decrease flooding impacts,
Aggressively working with over-impacted Alexandria residents to identify and pilot solutions that solve neighborhood-specific problems,
Transitioning impermeable surfaces on City property to reduce demand on sewer pipes, and
Creating incentives and action plans to transition large impermeable surfaces to more sustainable options.
The current situation didn’t happen overnight; it’s the product of increasing amounts of impermeable surfaces, climate change-driven excessive rain, deferred maintenance, outdated and undersized infrastructure and poor prioritization of necessities. Problems never solve themselves. When our government ignores them, they grow bigger and harder to fix. Kicking the can down the road isn't just bad policy, it's more expensive in terms of costs, suffering and public trust.
If you have a suggestion or strategy to mitigate the impact of flooding in our City, please let me know.
