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Virginia Beach rolls out Stormwater Extension pilot to help residents with flooding mitigation
Summary
Council heard a staff briefing on a new Stormwater Extension pilot, which offers one‑on‑one parcel assistance, a condensed mitigation toolbox, grant navigation, real‑time sensor and camera monitoring, and a plan to scale the program if demand grows.
The City of Virginia Beach briefed council on a new Stormwater Extension pilot aimed at helping residents and businesses navigate flooding and stormwater issues on private property. Kyle Coolbaugh, the city’s stormwater extension agent, described a program built around outreach, parcel visits, a two‑page mitigation 'toolbox' for residents and a sensor/camera monitoring network that will feed a future stormwater operations center.
Why this matters: Coolbaugh told council the program purpose is awareness and technical assistance — not a request for additional funds at this time — and said the program already has one FTE and is funded from the stormwater utility. The extension agent said the program compiles 17 mitigation strategies into plain‑language guidance for homeowners and provides a pathway to grant opportunities and technical referrals. He noted the pilot started in January and reported 38 total cases, eight of which were active at the time of the briefing.
Operational details: the program will perform parcel‑level visits to recommend appropriately scaled mitigations (for example, rain barrels, French drains, bioretention), help identify funding opportunities, and advocate for residents in discussions with state or federal agencies. The program manages the city’s sensor network for rain and water levels and is adding cameras with machine‑learning thresholds to trigger staff alerts. Coolbaugh said the camera/sensor data will support the stormwater operations center and improve situational awareness for emergency response.
Funding and next steps: the pilot was funded in the FY23–24 budget from the stormwater utility fund. Coolbaugh said staff will monitor metrics (website views, cases opened, geographic distribution) and will return to council if the program requires additional staffing or budget. He also noted ongoing outreach through communications, WHRO and Channel 13 coverage, and planned engagement with HOAs and civic leagues.
Quotation: “This program is actually dedicated resources to directly to helping the residents of our city,” Coolbaugh said, describing the program’s goal of pairing residents with technical assistance and funding information.
What to watch: staff will continue to add camera sites in known flood locations, extend messaging across the city, track demand metrics, and report back if additional resources are needed.
