Since May of last year, I’ve been working with residents of Braehead Woods and City officials to find ways to address severe stormwater issues there. I’ve met many times with residents, walked the entire drainage path through the neighborhood several times, after periods of rain and during dry periods, and met with City officials to discuss the problem and ways to solve it.
As you may know, a natural stream runs through Braehead Woods, but after fifty years of poor storm water management, its banks are eroding, trees are dying, road berms collapsing, soil is washing away. One homeowner showed me how her garage is about to be undercut by a gully that creeps ever closer. Many residents have incurred tens of thousands of dollars in repairs to their foundations.
It’s a complex problem that involves a perennial stream, poor drainage, new development upstream and infill development locally that create more impervious surfaces. The City has hired an engineer to assess the situation and make recommendations, and public forums are being held.
Neighborhoods built in the 60s and 70s – even earlier - lack the stormwater standards now being required for new construction. Rather than a modern system of curbs and gutters sending rainwater into retention basins (where it can soak into the soil), water simply moves through roadside ditches, eventually reaching a stream and then into the Rappahannock River. With more frequent and more intense rain events, sediments (including dangerous pollutants) find their way into our streams and river. The situation illustrates why the Hazel Run Watershed earned an “F” grade for land use in a recent environmental study.
Retrofitting an entire neighborhood with a modern stormwater system costs many millions of dollars – money the homeowners don’t have. We need workable solutions, and quickly. The City has hired a Stormwater Manager to help the City find manageable solutions.
Right now these measures are being considered:
Problems like these don’t solve themselves. It takes community involvement, strong leadership, and people working together on solutions. As a member of the Fredericksburg City Council, I will work to build consensus and find solutions to problems that affect neighborhoods and the health of our environment.
It’s time.
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