Wetlands Watch is proud to announce that this year's Catch the King (CTK) was not only an incredible success, but unlike any other. Between October 6th and 12th, we had 167 volunteer scientists collect more than 27,000 high-water marks throughout coastal Virginia using the Sea Level Rise app. With a nearly 20% increase in high-water data points from 2024 and participation from every CTK region, this also marked the most data collected since 2020.

Virginia Beach alone logged almost 7,000 data points thanks to 35 volunteers, including top mapper Brenda Street with 2,454 pins dropped! Norfolk followed second, and the Middle Peninsula took third as they have greatly expanded in both participants and data. Notably, Williamsburg/James City County more than doubled in the number of data points from last year! In addition to mapping floodwaters, 66 volunteers “Measured the Muck” While Catching the King with Old Dominion University to help better understand the loads of nutrients, bacteria, and “forever chemicals” (PFAS) being introduced into local waterways during tidal flooding. This resulted in 326 samples collected in Norfolk and Portsmouth and 96 samples collected in the Gloucester County, York County, Poquoson areas.

The weekend ended on a high - with community members contributing data and learning together but also with even higher water levels. On Sunday, October 12th, tidal flooding was exaggerated as the impacts of nor’easter winds were evident. 

These numbers highlight that Catch the King has fostered active community stewardship and dedicated volunteers. Tide mappers diligently document this “sunny day” flooding due to King tides over the span of many days, tracking changes and noting impacts. Volunteer enthusiasm and interest results in high quality, credible flooding data that helps improve community resilience and informs local decision making.

Wetlands Watch continues to share data collected by volunteers with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) to help validate flood prediction and sea level rise modeling. View the 2025 data on the VIMS website here. Every pin dropped in the Sea Level Rise app strengthens our collective ability to predict and plan for the “normal” floods of tomorrow, which king tides give us a glimpse into.

We want to thank many of the groups and partners that contributed to making this year such a success!

Catch the King 2025 would not have been possible without the generosity of its supporters and sponsors, including the Environmental Defense Fund, Hampton Roads Sanitation District, and the Virginia Lakes and Watersheds Association. Wetlands Watch extends its heartfelt thanks to every volunteer who contributed to this year’s record-holding data collection—and invites the entire community to join us again for Catch the King next year! Wetlands Watch encourages anyone interested in future training events and volunteer opportunities to sign up for its Catch the King Newsletter and join the “Help Catch the King Tide!” Facebook group.

Lastly, Wetlands Watch’s second annual arts contest, the “Tides of Tomorrow: Jane Brinkley Thumm Memorial Arts Contest” is now open for submissions! High school artists from across Virginia are invited to submit visual or performative art to explore the profound impact of climate change, sea level rise, and flooding through creative expression. Cash prizes for juror-reviewed “Best in Show” submissions will be awarded, with a deadline for submissions on February 1st, 2026. Please reach out to catchtheking@wetlandswatch.org with any questions.

We’re thrilled to welcome Genevieve Guerry as the newest member of the Wetlands Watch team, where she will be supporting our Flood Risk Project while completing her dissertation at East Carolina University in the Integrated Coastal Sciences program.

Genevieve brings an interdisciplinary approach to climate resilience, having contributed to multi-disciplinary research on the links between climate change, conflict, and human migration. She has a strong background in systems thinking and integrated environmental solutions, and experience in science communication, co-hosting a podcast for two years on the American Shoreline Podcast Network in collaboration with The Coastal Society.

Her professional experience has centered on research, education, and peer collaboration, serving in various roles at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the North Carolina Coastal Federation, and various academic coastal institutes. She holds a B.S. in Marine Science from the University of South Carolina and an M.S. in Coastal and Ocean Policy from UNC Wilmington. Her early experience in environmental education through Clemson University adds to her wide-ranging perspective on community engagement and technical communication.

At Wetlands Watch, Genevieve will help lead our efforts to communicate flood risk across Virginia through programs and policy initiatives. She will serve as chair of the Coastal Virginia Community Rating System (CRS) Workgroup, a statewide community of practice focused on comprehensive floodplain management, emergency preparedness, and public outreach. In addition, she will help expand access to the Virginia Community Flood Preparedness Fund (CFPF), especially for under-resourced communities in western Virginia.

Genevieve’s expertise in recognizing both visible and invisible forms of environmental risk will be an asset to our work as we continue building capacity and resilience throughout the Commonwealth. We’re so excited to have her on board.

Welcome to the team, Genevieve!

Press Release

Norfolk, VA — Wetlands Watch and the City of Hampton are condemning a sudden move by the Trump administration to cancel a $20 million EPA grant dedicated to climate adaptation and flood resilience in the Aberdeen Gardens neighborhood in the City of Hampton. The grant, awarded in 2024, was set to fund urgently needed infrastructure improvements, safeguard community health, and strengthen long-term resilience in one of Virginia’s culturally significant communities.

“This action is unjust, unlawful, and needlessly places hundreds of residents at increased risk,” said Mary-Carson Stiff, Executive Director of Wetlands Watch. “Aberdeen Gardens was depending on these improvements. The loss of this funding jeopardizes community health, safety, and violates the federal government’s promise to support neighborhood-level infrastructure projects across Virginia.”

The administration claimed that the grant was “no longer consistent with EPA funding priorities” and referenced a vague and undefined policy of “merit, fairness, and excellence.” Wetlands Watch called the justification “spurious,” arguing that no meaningful rationale was provided, and characterized the move as politically motivated.

“For twenty-five years, Wetlands Watch has aligned its work with the EPA’s statutory mission,” said Stiff. “This reversal betrays these widely-held values, and threatens environmental progress nationwide.”

Wetlands Watch and the City of Hampton are exploring all options to appeal the surprise termination.

“This is not just about one grant,” Stiff said. “It’s about the principle that public commitments made to protect vulnerable communities cannot be violated according to political caprice. We intend to fight—and we are calling on our supporters and the public to stand with us.”

Wetlands Watch is thrilled to announce that this year’s Catch the King (CTK) event was a tremendous success. Between October 17 and 20, 187 volunteers—a 52% increase from last year—collected more than 22,800 high-water marks using the Sea Level Rise app. That represents a remarkable 67.9% jump from 2023, demonstrating the growing momentum of this annual, community-led effort to document “sunny day” flooding during king tides.

Norfolk alone logged over 5,000 data pins thanks to 46 dedicated volunteers, including top mapper John Huffman with an impressive 716 submissions. Other regions, from Virginia Beach and the Eastern Shore to York County/Poquoson, Middle Peninsula, Hampton, the Northern Neck, and Williamsburg/JCC, also contributed anywhere from hundreds to thousands of GPS points. This robust set of data shows just how mobilized coastal Virginians are when it comes to understanding climate change impacts.

Beyond mapping floodwaters, CTK volunteers joined forces with organizations like Old Dominion University’s “Measure the Muck” project, which collected 327 water samples in Norfolk and the York River watershed to analyze nutrient and bacterial loads, including “forever chemicals” (PFAS). Joe Barnes, a Tide Captain from ODU, also organized a marine debris clean-up that removed 879 pieces of trash (totaling 16.5 pounds) from Lafayette Park and Kayak Launch, highlighting how flooding can carry a host of pollutants and debris into our waterways.

Wetlands Watch continues to share data collected by volunteers with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) to help validate flood prediction and sea level rise modeling. View the 2024 data on the VIMS website here. Every pin dropped in the Sea Level Rise app strengthens our collective ability to predict and plan for the “normal” floods of tomorrow, which king tides already preview.

We want to thank the many groups that helped make this year such a success–the Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, ODU’s Environmental Ethics class, The Williams School, VT’s Biosystems Engineering students, HRSD / AECOM, WHRO, Butterfly Village Master Naturalists of the Peninsula, Middle Peninsula, and Northern Neck, Master Gardeners of the Northern Neck, Friends of the Rappahannock, Lynnhaven River Now, and the Elizabeth River Project.

Wetlands Watch is hosting an arts contest through Catch the King this year, titled “Waves of Tomorrow: Artists Respond to Rising Seas.” Cash prizes for juror-reviewed “Best in Show” submissions will be awarded for high school and college categories, with a deadline for submissions on January 1st, 2025. Submissions may include visual work (sculpture, photography, drawing, painting, etc.) and written work (poems and short stories). Please reach out to josie.shostak@wetlandswatch.org for more information on submitting your artwork. Only days remain in the contest!

Looking ahead, Wetlands Watch encourages anyone interested in future training events and volunteer opportunities to sign up for its Catch the King Newsletter and join the “Help Catch the King Tide!” Facebook group.

Catch the King 2024 would not be possible without the generosity of its supporters and sponsors, including the Environmental Defense Fund, AECOM, and the Virginia Lakes and Watersheds Association. Wetlands Watch extends its heartfelt thanks to every volunteer who contributed to this year’s record-breaking data collection—and invites the entire community to join us again for an even bigger and better Catch the King next year!

As Wetlands Watch prepares to celebrate its 25th year of dedicated service, we reflect on our accomplishments, progress, and the ongoing challenges we face. Despite the escalating threats posed by climate change and its profound impact on our lives, we remain hopeful and steadfast in our pursuit of effective solutions as we embark on the next quarter-century of our mission.

Rising Tides, Rising Urgency

In the realm of climate change, discussions often center on spans of centuries. In Norfolk, however, where Wetlands Watch is headquartered, conversations have narrowed to spans of decades. Sea levels have already risen by 1.5 feet over the past century, and projections suggest that they will rise at twice this rate in half the time. This year, the impacts of our new reality brought us 28 days of nuisance flooding (4.5 feet above MLLW), making it challenging for people to get to work, kids to school, emergency response services to those in need, and our stormwater systems to function effectively. 

Twenty-eight days is a record-breaker, according to our friends at the NOAA-Wakefield Weather Station. As if these impacts weren’t difficult enough, we also experienced 19 consecutive days of +4-feet high tides, tides which also block roads and cause the same transit and safety issues. 

The challenge for all of us in Norfolk, and for everyone throughout Virginia, is that while this was a record breaking year, it is becoming more on trend. Rather they quickly constitute the trendlines for future years. The question all of us in Virginia should be asking is: 

Are our strategies and solutions designed to keep pace with these escalating impacts?

Wetlands at Risk

As sea levels rise, more land becomes inundated, leading to increased flooding and encroachment on shorelines. More land is converted into water, and our wetlands are at the forefront of this transformation. The stark reality is that their growth rate is not keeping pace with sea level rise and this is causing many wetlands to down in place when they cannot migrate landward. Recent projections show that a shocking 89% of Virginia’s tidal wetlands are at risk of disappearing by 2080 unless we take decisive action.

So, with higher and higher water, where do our wetlands go? Do they drown in place because infrastructure stands in their way? Or will we implement comprehensive plans, policies, financial incentives, and legal tools to facilitate their landward migration? This challenge is complex, multi-faceted, and urgent. The only certainty of this work is that delaying action will only allow these challenges to grow more vexing, make them more expensive to solve, and more destructive to our communities.

The good news is that Wetlands Watch has been actively developing strategies and solutions to address these and other challenges in close partnership with a host of nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and community partners. Among our notable achievements in 2024:

Pioneering Rolling Conservation Easements

In January, the Elizabeth River Project’s new headquarters in Norfolk became the site of the country’s first “rolling conservation easement.” Wetlands Watch led the development of this innovative legal tool in collaboration with national experts and significant support from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. The Coastal Virginia Conservancy, an urban land trust based in Norfolk, will enforce the easement, ensuring that wetlands can migrate landward as sea levels rise and that structures on the property are removed when land converts to water. This voluntary tool shifts the responsibility of shoreline adaptation from government decision-makers and the courts to property owners, addressing land conversion proactively.

Legislative Success with the BEACH Act

In November, Congress passed the Bolstering Ecosystems Against Coastal Harm (BEACH) Act, adding approximately 280,000 acres to the Coastal Barrier Resources Act (CBRA), with 96,000 acres in Virginia—95,000 of which are wetlands. Sponsored by Congresswoman Jennifer Kiggans, this legislation received our support through testimony in 2023. The CBRA is a bipartisan statute that protects undeveloped coastal habitats by making them ineligible for certain federal supports, such as flood insurance and road funding. The BEACH Act includes a study on the impact of climate change on CBRA-protected lands, specifically addressing land conversion due to sea level rise. This expansion demonstrates federal recognition of the inherent risks in inhabiting sensitive coastal zones and supports necessary conservation efforts in Virginia.

Launching “Designing Living Shorelines for Sea Level Rise”

In December, Wetlands Watch released a new resource: Designing Living Shorelines for Sea Level Rise in Virginia to help all new erosion control structures protect wetlands from sea level rise and coastal storms.. This new design resource that will help wetlands of today and tomorrow have a better shot of surviving climate impacts.

Collaborating with NASA on Intertidal Zone Mapping

We partnered with the NASA DEVELOP team to project the future locations of intertidal zones as sea levels rise. The project confirmed what we had suspected. Wetlands will be able to migrate landward in areas like Poquoson where there is flat elevation and minimal development. But in regions with higher elevations or significant development, wetlands are likely to drown in place, in accordance with the projections laid out in the Coastal Resilience Master Plan. This partnership was pivotal because the NASA DEVELOP team confirmed that most wetland losses will occur sooner rather than later, highlighting the urgent need for immediate consequential action.

Looking Ahead: Building an Adaptive Future

Urgent action is required to address the loss of Virginia’s wetlands. Upcoming legislation in the 2025 General Assembly aims to build on our progress, similar to the bill introduced in the 2024 session. This new legislation will convene leaders across Virginia to develop a comprehensive strategy for protecting our wetlands from climate change impacts. 

We need to make a plan with actionable steps and accountability to move into an implantation phase on this work. Can we create wetlands migration corridors on lands that make sense to prioritize migration? Maryland has a program called Green Print that maps migration corridors and is working on using land conservation to protect these areas for wetlands to move inland as waters rise. Can we do the same in Virginia? Wetlands Watch helped develop a wetlands migration zone and no mow conditions in a traditional conservation easement recorded on a private residence in Norfolk. Let’s normalize this and make a plan for protecting people and critical infrastructure - which includes our natural infrastructure. We need to do it all together. 

As we enter into our 25th year, Wetlands Watch remains dedicated to addressing the challenges ahead with the urgency and dedication they deserve. Our commitment is unwavering: we will continue to develop and implement innovative strategies to protect Virginia’s wetlands, enhance natural resilience, and bolster community adaptation efforts throughout the Commonwealth. 

Thank you for your continued support as we embark on this pivotal next chapter. Together, we can ensure a resilient and thriving future for Virginia’s precious wetlands, and safeguard everything that they do for our communities.

As I prepare to slow down and move into an ambassador role for Wetlands Watch, I can’t help but be proud of how far we’ve come from concept to realization since I joined the organization in 2010. I am excited to see what is next for Wetlands Watch under the organizational leadership of Mary-Carson and Stacie McGraw and programmatic leadership of Jelani, Gabi, and Ian. We have a next generation of superstars growing professionally and working the Wetlands Watch way: fostering collaboration, embracing adaptive change, taking calculated risks, prioritizing solutions, and biased toward action.

The 2024 success stories that follow demonstrate the multifaceted Wetlands Watch approach of working collaboratively internally and externally, aligning our programmatic work with a wide variety of stakeholders and implementing solution-focused strategies that unify and connect. Our programs, our values, and our approach envision a resilient future in which all people and nature can co-exist, adapt, and flourish in a changing climate. I believe these success stories clearly demonstrate our mission focus: to enhance natural resilience, bolster community adaptation efforts, protect and restore wetlands throughout Virginia.

As always, we are grateful for all our partners working alongside us, charitable organizations who fund our work, and every individual that chooses to donate time and/or funding to Wetlands Watch.

As we celebrate these achievements, it's important to highlight the pivotal role that the Living Infrastructure Initiative has played in driving our mission forward. This initiative embodies our commitment to integrating nature-based solutions into every facet of our work, ensuring that our efforts not only protect wetlands but also enhance community resilience and environmental sustainability. By focusing on living infrastructure, we have been able to create meaningful and lasting impacts that benefit both people and nature, setting the stage for the continued success and pursuit of the Wetlands Watch mission.

You may have noticed how living infrastructure (including wetlands) and its multiple benefits to nature and people are a common thread weaving our mission and into all Wetlands Watch programmatic initiatives and adaptation strategies. Our training, resources, and engagement activities delivered through our Living Infrastructure Initiatives are designed to ensure the natural and nature-based resilience strategies are implemented successfully and strategically to provide attractive and functional options for communities and property owners to adapt and conserve nature and reduce risks to people in a changing climate. 

We discovered early on that there simply weren’t enough people with the skills or interest in doing green infrastructure work. In 2014, to address this barrier, Wetlands Watch and our partners organized, funded, and developed the CBLP program, a training system and network of professionals to become better green infrastructure practitioners and environmental stewards. We’ve come a long way since piloting our Level 1 and 2 professional certification programs in 2016 adding new workforce and professional development certificates when interested partners approach us with support and funding. Through our (Wetlands Watch and CBLP) involvement with steering committees and action teams for the Upper and Middle James Riparian Consortium (Riparian Consortium) and the Living Shoreline Collaborative (LSC), we received funding and support to develop and pilot CBLP-Buffers and CBLP-Shorelines to increase availability of contractors in Virginia and beyond.

I am particularly proud of the CBLP program because I shepherded this program at Wetlands Watch from concept throughout my time here. This year we saw a lot of successes: in the expansion of our training programs and community of practice within Virginia and beyond; in the transition in leadership as I step down and Stacie McGraw and Gabi Kinney assume new leadership roles for Wetlands Watch and CBLP; and in recognition of two CBLP-designed resilient landscapes and shorelines at the Elizabeth River Project (ERP) Ryan Resilience Lab in Norfolk and the Blue Heron Landing Park in Chesapeake. Collectively, we have reached a point where this network of sustainable landscape and green infrastructure practitioners are being recognized and Wetlands Watch can see the impact achieved when we work to align our initiatives, programs, and messaging.

In 2023-24, as members of the Riparian Buffer consortium, we contributed to the development of the new DOF Virginia Riparian Forest Buffer Action Plan, worked with CBLP-Buffers training partners DOF and JRA and VEE funding to deliver CBLP-Buffers Beyond the Bay in Roanoke, and supported workforce development through the launch of a riparian buffer careers webpage.

In 2024, Wetlands Watch, Hirschman Water and the Environment, and the CBLP program worked with the Virginia Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts (VASWCD) to develop and deliver a custom training for SWCD agents who manage the Virginia Conservation Assistance Program (VCAP), a green infrastructure cost-share program for private property. 

This summer, we ran our 3rd CBLP-Shorelines workshop in Virginia and worked with CBLP to adapt and deliver the workshop in Maryland. The LSC also celebrated the grand opening of the first living shoreline project funded in part by the Virginia Agricultural Cost Share Program on the working farm of the Berkeley Plantation property. The Living Shoreline contractor and several project partners were members of the Wetlands Watch led LSC Training Team, earned the CBLP-Shorelines certificate through our pilot program, and informed development of our newly released Living Shoreline Resilience Design Guide: Designing Living Shorelines for Sea Level Rise in Virginia: A Resource for Practitioners funded by the Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program.

Our Native Biodiversity Program is also part of a collaborative, Community Based Social Marketing campaign developed through the Virginia Native Plants Marketing Partnership that we joined in 2011. Working with the Partnership, Wetlands Watch has supported regional native plant guides development and distribution helping to improve public appreciation for native plants, support native plant production and increase availability for green infrastructure projects. The guides are provided to and promote certified CBLPs and the Partnership has informed development of the CBLP Planting and Maintenance Guide for Stormwater Best Management Practices, and the recently released Riparian Consortium’s Riparian Buffer Plant Guide for Virginia. In 2024, Stacie McGraw, received a grant to support our continued leadership with the Partnership, to update the Native Plant Guide for Southeast Virginia and to reboot the native plants marketing campaign in Hampton Roads.

Many know about the high profile Collaboratory projects at Ohio Creek in Norfolk, and most recently at Aberdeen Gardens in Hampton; however, just this month, we saw the grand opening of Blue Heron Run Park, a Collaboratory resilience design project from 2018. The park was designed by Kristina Bezanson, a CBLP Level 2 certified designer, Level 1 instructor, and Tidewater Community College Landscape Design Instructor for her final project needed to earn a Masters in Sustainable Landscape Design from George Washington University. We worked with Rogard Ross, also a certified CBLP, and the Friends of Indian River, ERP, and the City of Chesapeake’s Parks and Recreation Department to ensure that their goals and vision for this redevelopment project were met. As a technical advisor, I was able to guide revisions and modifications during the design process that resulted in a more resilient and adaptable design with the multiple benefits we promote through Wetlands Watch programs: manage shoreline erosion, reduce and manage stormwater runoff to improve water quality and mitigate flooding, restore natural floodplain functions in the flood zone, allow for wetlands migration, and increase biodiversity with native plants. These revisions allowed the park design partners to seek multiple funding sources to meet water quality goals, restore the Chesapeake Bay Resource Protection Area (CBPA) buffer, achieve better ratings through theNational Flood Insurance Program’s Community Rating System, and provide recreational amenities for the community. If you want more details, I encourage you to watch this video.

Another interesting twist to this story is the career, workforce, and professional development of other certified CBLPs that we can tie to Kristina Bezanson. At TCC, she instructed and mentored a number of certified CBLPs who we consider superstars in Hampton Roads. Trista Imrich, a Level 2 certified CBLP Designer, veteran, and small business owner, originally designed living shoreline projects for Lynnhaven River NOW, trained under Kristina, started her own native plant design business, Wild Works of Whimsy, recently acquired Southern Branch Nursery and employing whole new workforce of sustainably minded, CBLP certified staff. Her success is our success - her designs are creating a demand for sustainable landscaping with native plants that protect and buffer wetlands and her Nursery is meeting the growing demand for native plants. Stacie McGraw, another landscape design student at the time, remembers Kristina sharing her Collaboratory resilience design process with her class! It has been a pleasure to see Stacie grow and flourish while at Wetlands Watch and I personally am grateful for Kristina’s role in planting the seeds of resilience design by sharing her own learning journey with Stacie way back in 2018!

The Elizabeth River Project’s (ERP) new Ryan Resilience Lab with its resilient landscape and shoreline is an amazing example of so many Wetlands Watch-promoted resilience and adaptation strategies and program initiatives can be packed in one small urban redevelopment site. This is a story of what we can achieve when Wetlands Watch staff and our partners dare to be innovative, dedicate our time and resources towards realizing our long term goals, and have the patience and support of our funders and what communities can achieve by working together locally to align people, programs, planning, funding, and actions. 

You may already know about Rolling Conservation Easement on the property, successfully negotiated, designed, and recorded because of Mary-Carson’s tenacity and tireless work with our partners at ERP, the Coastal Virginia Conservancy, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Old Dominion University, and the City of Norfolk. What you might not know is the design, installation, management and monitoring of the resilient landscape and shorelines provided by certified CBLPs with Stromberg, Garrigan and Associates (SGA) and ERP. SGA incorporated sea level rise adaptation and adaptive management into their designs, ERP staff installed, monitor and adaptively manage the landscape and shoreline as sea level impacts are realized, and will also monitor flood levels to ensure compliance with the conditions of the Rolling Conservation Easement.  This amazing model of resilient building methods and green infrastructure practices integrated into the entire site from the rooftop to the water’s edge will inform resilience and adaptation research, provide a learning laboratory and Co-hosting Wetlands Watch and CBLP professional development workshops and trainings, resilience tours for Collaboratory students and their professors and Catch the King training and celebration events.

As the Coastal Resilience Master Plan (CRMP) Phase II Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) nears its sunset at the end of 2024, now seems like the perfect time to reflect on the process of state flood planning in Virginia. Having previously worked as a regional flood planner in Texas, I’ve had the unique opportunity to experience and compare different approaches to state-level resilience planning. While Virginia's efforts in coastal resilience are commendable, I believe that it’s important not only to highlight the strengths of the current framework but also to identify areas where different strategies could lead to more effective outcomes.

Different Approaches Lead to Different Levels of Success

Flood planning varies widely between states, and each model brings its own strengths and challenges. In Texas, for example, flood planning follows a bottom-up approach, where regional groups research and identify local priorities, which are then synthesized at the state level to shape broader state policy. This ensures that local needs and perspectives are represented in state planning, particularly helping the state direct strategies to realize action where it is most needed. Other states, however, adopt a more top-down approach, where technical experts within state agencies set priorities and policies based on regulatory and scientific understanding. While deferring to experts can be helpful, it can also be far removed from local needs and does not result in action on the ground. Virginia’s approach is unique because it uses the TAC, a committee full of diverse voices, from nonprofits to research universities to PDCs, to inform and support the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) as it administers the Coastal Resilience Master Plan Phases I and II.

The TAC was created to bring together a wide range of expertise to help inform the direction and implementation of the CRMP. Over the past year, the four subcommittees, 1) Outreach and Coordination, 2) Research, Data, and Innovation, 3) Funding, and 4) Project Prioritization, have met quarterly to discuss and recommend priorities for coastal resilience planning that aim to reduce flood risk in coastal Virginia. In theory, this is a respectable process, but as we reflect on its execution, it’s worth considering whether it lived up to expectations. Did the TAC succeed in representing the diversity of voices it set out to include? And how effective was it in driving meaningful, actionable recommendations?

The Invite is Half the Battle

The TAC was designed to bring together experts from a wide range of fields, including state agencies, regional commissions, academic institutions, and tribal nations. These voices were meant to create a well-rounded, informed process. However, over the course of the year, participation began to decline, with fewer members attending meetings. This trend raises important questions about engagement—was it due to competing priorities, or was the structure of the TAC itself limiting participation? 

It’s possible that the decline in participation can be linked to the somewhat opaque process. The TAC’s goals, as laid out in the Virginia Code, are ambitious and require a high level of coordination and clarity. Guided by the 2020 Framework Guiding Principles, the committee was tasked with ensuring that recommendations are regularly updated and informed by the best available scientific data. The TAC is also responsible for addressing statewide and regional needs, using science-based, long-term resilience strategies. 

These are crucial objectives but also demand a straightforward process and consistent, well-structured discussions. While guiding principles are broad strategic guidelines that help an organization or committee operate and make decisions, there must eventually be a shift toward measurable metrics focused on reducing risk to assess whether the plan is effective. Once these metrics are established, a process is needed to prioritize projects and allocate funding to start implementing the plan. 

Recommendations: What are they good for?

One of the most confusing aspects of the CRMP process was the development of recommendations. With only four scheduled meetings happening in 2024, there was already very little time. Each of these quarterly meetings took roughly three hours. In Q2, the subcommittees were asked to generate a list of recommendations, of which we generated 20-30+ for each subcommittee I participated in. In Q3, we were tasked with narrowing those 30+ recommendations down to 10, and by Q4, we were told to refine them further to just five. The rationale behind these arbitrary numbers was never fully explained, leaving many of us unclear about the logic driving these limiting recommendations. In my experience in Texas, flood planning groups created 350+ recommendations contextual to their regions.  Additionally, some recommendations, such as tasking the project prioritization subcommittee to consider funding sources, were shifted between subcommittees without clear justification. This created confusion about their relevance to the subcommittees’ chartered objectives.

Measuring Success: The Need for Metrics

The Project Prioritization subcommittee, for example, was tasked with developing protocols to evaluate and prioritize projects, but this critical task was never fully addressed.  Instead, much of the discussion centered on broad, high-level recommendations like the importance of “best available science” or identifying the locations with gaps in identified studies. While the type of science is vital for any information-gathering stage, it is a principle already outlined in the 2020 Coastal Resilience Master Planning Framework and didn’t add the concrete action steps the committee was supposed to develop. The lack of specificity in these recommendations left important objectives unfinished, such as “develop objective protocols for evaluating and prioritizing identified project needs for the Coastal Region.” One example of our shortcoming is our recommendation to “develop success metrics and set clear short-, mid-, and long-term goals.” While the intent is sound, we stopped short of specifying what those metrics should be or how they would be measured. As a result, the recommendation feels incomplete.

From my experience in Texas, measurable metrics are critical for project prioritization, which in turn determines how state funds should be allocated. Through the State Flood Planning process, Texas identified $54.5 billion worth of flood management evaluations, mitigation projects, and strategies across the entire state. Texas passed Proposition 8 to accelerate mitigation efforts, creating a $793 million Flood Infrastructure Fund. However, this amount falls far short of the $54.5 billion needed, underscoring the importance of carefully prioritizing projects.  The challenge lies in deciding which projects will receive this funding.

In Texas, prioritizing projects was completed by assessing the proposed project’s existing flood risk severity and potential reduction in flood risk. While other states might ask for a project narrative where the locality explains why a project would benefit an area, Texas assessed and ranked projects using GIS analysis, with metrics such as the count of buildings, acres, or people protected by proposed interventions helping to rank the projects. Senate Bill 8, passed during the 86th Texas Legislature, defined flood risk severity and risk reduction of life and property as the top priorities. In response, the state agency created an Excel workbook with weighted categories to generate a ranked list of eligible projects submitted by every regional flood planning group. This means that a project reducing the 100-year flood risk for three blocks of multi-family housing would rank higher than one protecting only two single-family homes. Texas also prioritized projects based on cost-benefit analyses and placed greater emphasis on nature-based solutions. I listed the complete ranking criteria in the table at the end of this post.

If similar metrics had been established early on in Virginia’s process, it might have led to more structured and meaningful outcomes. In hindsight, being asked to develop such metrics from the beginning would have helped steer the discussions in a more focused direction.

Measuring What Matters: Holistic Indicators for Flood Planning

As a brainstorming exercise, I started to consider various creative metrics that Virginia could use to measure the success of the Coastal Resilience Master Plan (CRMP). My goal was to think broadly and explore metrics from multiple perspectives to capture the diverse impacts of flood resilience efforts. I believe this presents an opportunity for Virginia to build upon traditional approaches, such as counting population and buildings, by exploring a more comprehensive set of success indicators that capture the multifaceted nature of coastal resilience.

For instance, Virginia could adopt Virginia-centric proxy metrics, such as the number of communities with DCR-approved resiliency plans, to emphasize localized resilience strategies. Tracking the percentage increase in flood insurance uptake or participation in flood preparedness workshops could highlight public engagement and awareness. Metrics like the number of acres restored or protected floodplains and reductions in impervious surfaces in vulnerable coastal zones would demonstrate a commitment to nature-based solutions and sustainable development. Recognizing Virginia prides itself on fiscal responsibility, measuring the decrease in property damage costs might provide insights into the financial benefits of pre-disaster mitigation investments. By comparing the cost savings from avoided damage (through mitigation efforts) against the upfront investment in flood projects, Virginia could measure the return on investment (ROI) for its resilience strategies. 

Considering the complete planning ecosystem of flood resilience, social equity and public health could also play a vital role in Virginia's metrics. For example, the percentage of at-risk, underrepresented communities benefiting from flood preparedness projects could ensure equitable distribution of resources. Improvements in public health outcomes in flood-prone areas would reflect the long-term benefits of mitigation efforts. Infrastructure-focused metrics, such as the percentage of critical infrastructure removed from or protected against the 100-year floodplain and reductions in service interruptions during flood events, would gauge the effectiveness of measures to safeguard essential services. 

These potential metrics cover a wide range of impacts, from economic and environmental outcomes to public health and social equity. They reflect the diverse challenges posed by flooding and encourage a holistic approach to resilience planning. I’m not suggesting that this is the definitive approach Virginia should take to metric development. However, we would welcome the opportunity to collaborate with other stakeholders to explore and develop additional types of metrics. I believe this highlights the importance of broadening our perspective when considering how to measure success. 

Resilience is most effectively measured by considering not only populations or buildings at risk but also the broader, interconnected impacts of flood planning on communities, ecosystems, infrastructure, and overall quality of life. By adopting a more diverse and holistic set of metrics, Virginia can enhance its ability to track progress and ensure that its coastal resilience efforts address the varied needs of all its residents.

TAC to FRAC: What is the Future?

As the TAC sunsets at the end of the year, the flood work for the Commonwealth will transition to representatives of state agencies in the Flood Resilience Advisory Committee (FRAC). However, rather than inspiring confidence, this transition raises new concerns about both participation and process. The FRAC's membership is notably more restricted than the TAC's—key stakeholders from the TAC, like nonprofits, tribal nations, and academic institutions, do not have formal representation and will instead be “engaged” by the FRAC in a yet-to-be-determined way. As DCR moves forward with the Virginia Flood Protection Master Plan (VFPMP), it remains unclear whether the unresolved challenges from the Coastal Resilience Master Plan will be addressed in this new phase of flood planning. 

While the transition from the TAC to the FRAC raises important questions, reflecting on my time with the TAC has been both insightful and thought-provoking. The experience has offered me a deeper understanding of the complexities involved in coastal resilience planning, and I’ve gained valuable perspectives on how Virginia approaches flood risk management. Although there were clear challenges, particularly around process direction and clarity, I remain optimistic about the future of coastal resilience planning in Virginia. The state’s commitment to addressing flood risks is evident, but to move beyond planning and into tangible implementation, there needs to be strong support from state leadership. 

An administration that empowers DCR to transition from the planning phase to implementation and decision-making will be critical in overcoming the challenges encountered during Phase II planning and driving the Coastal Resilience Master Plan toward meaningful action. While many Virginia communities and regions may resist a top-down approach, the path forward lies in fostering collaboration and building consensus around shared goals. By finding common ground and taking decisive steps forward, Virginia can pave the way for meaningful progress, unlocking opportunities for partnership and ultimately building a stronger, more resilient future for all.

HAMPTON, VA—Wetlands Watch, in partnership with the City of Hampton, is pleased to announce the Aberdeen Gardens Community Resilience Implementation Strategy, a transformative initiative funded by a $20 million Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant. This project will confront climate-related challenges, support the neighborhood’s long history of community cooperation, and strengthen local ties through environmental education, green infrastructure improvements, and workforce development.

Established in the 1930s during the New Deal era, Aberdeen Gardens is a testament to African American resilience, ingenuity, and cultural pride. Conceived by Black architects, constructed by Black builders, and designed for Black residents, it offered generous home lots where families could grow their own food and maintain a measure of independence. Over the decades, residents have built a legacy rooted in collaboration, intergenerational knowledge-sharing, and a strong community identity. Today, even as it faces the urgent challenges of flooding, urban heat islands, and pollution, Aberdeen Gardens remains a vital cultural touchstone—one where neighbors have long banded together to support one another, celebrate their heritage, and invest in a healthier, more sustainable future.

The project is designed to empower Aberdeen Gardens residents by providing them with the necessary tools, training, and resources to improve the environment and overall quality of life. Through hands-on environmental education and the implementation of green infrastructure projects, the program will reduce flood risks, enhance air and water quality, and promote a culture of environmental stewardship. At the same time, workforce training and certifications offered through the Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional (CBLP) program will help residents create pathways to careers in sustainability, expanding economic opportunities and helping ensure long-term resilience for the community.

The effort stems from over a decade of collaboration with Virginia’s academic institutions. “This EPA award builds on our long-standing partnerships with Hampton University, Old Dominion University, and Virginia Tech,” said Mary-Carson Stiff, Executive Director of Wetlands Watch. “Thanks to their students—who, through our Collaboratory program, viewed Aberdeen Gardens as a living classroom—we have a strong foundation of practical, community-informed solutions. Now we can implement many of these ideas to strengthen resilience for generations to come.”

Wetlands Watch believes that collaboration with community partners is central to the project’s success. “By prioritizing the perspectives of Aberdeen Gardens’ residents and working closely with groups like the Greater Aberdeen Community Coalition, the Aberdeen Gardens Historic and Civic Association, and the Aberdeen Gardens Historic Museum, we ensure that our efforts remain truly community-centered,” said Jelani Sparrow of Wetlands Watch. “We look forward to continuing this work with our community partners and the City of Hampton.”

The Aberdeen Gardens Community Resilience Implementation Strategy will rely on ongoing engagement with residents through public workshops and regular community meetings. By listening to residents’ priorities, offering scholarships to encourage broad participation in training programs, and adopting local hiring practices, Wetlands Watch and the City of Hampton are ensuring that this initiative not only addresses immediate environmental needs, but also fosters a lasting legacy of empowerment, cultural continuity, and resilience.

For more details about our earlier efforts, please refer to the Aberdeen Gardens Community Resilience Action Plan (2023). For more details about the EPA grant, please see the City of Hampton Press Release. For updates on the Aberdeen Gardens Community Resilience Implementation Strategy and ways to get involved, visit www.wetlandswatch.org or email Jelani Sparrrow at jelani.sparrow@wetlandswatch.org.

About Wetlands Watch
Wetlands Watch is a 501(c)3 nonprofit based in Norfolk, Virginia. Our mission is to enhance natural resilience, bolster community adaptation efforts, and protect and restore wetlands throughout Virginia. We advance climate adaptation by working collaboratively with a wide variety of stakeholders, and by implementing solution-focused strategies that unify and connect.

This week the Circuit Court of Floyd County found that the Youngkin administration’s withdraw from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) was unlawful. The court ruled that the attempted withdraw was “unlawful and without effect,” supporting a fundamental principle of administrative law: that executive branch actions must adhere to the limits of statutory authority.

The General Assembly’s mandate for Virginia to participate in RGGI cannot lawfully be overridden unilaterally by the executive branch. The court’s finding that the withdrawal was “without effect” means that Virginia should have been a participant in RGGI throughout this period, regardless of the governor’s attempts to exceed his constitutional authority.

This ruling sets an important precedent which reaffirms the separation of powers and the supremacy of legislative directives in environmental governance. Wetlands Watch is grateful for SELC’s leadership in successfully representing the petitioner in this landmark case.

Youngkin's illegal withdrawal from RGGI has potentially left millions of dollars on the table that could have been spent reducing flood risk across the Commonwealth. This decision gets us one step closer to securing reliable funding for Virginia's Community Flood Preparedness Fund.

Read more about this history of this case and why we’re following it.

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]]>Court finds RGGI withdrawal is “unlawful and without effect”Mary-Carson StiffSat, 25 May 2024 02:05:00 +0000https://www.wetlandswatch.org/directors-blog/recent-legislative-efforts6656257c31730e20da8416b2:66c78bc02f56722c14c2a6c8:66c78bc02f56722c14c2a6c9

Richmond, VA – With the Virginia General Assembly having just concluded its regular session, legislative efforts have highlighted challenges and opportunities in the state's environmental legislation. 

Wetlands Watch has been closely monitoring the progress of three bills in particular, and can report on their status.

House Bill 357: Protection of Tidal and Nontidal Wetlands. Introduced by Delegate Shelly A. Simonds (D- 70th District), this bill sought to establish a workgroup within the Department of Environmental Quality to develop strategies aimed at protecting Virginia's vulnerable tidal and non-tidal wetlands. This initiative gained urgency following the publication of the Virginia Coastal Resilience Master Plan Phase 1, which predicted a potential loss of 89% of current tidal wetlands due to rising sea levels. 

Despite widespread support, the bill has been deferred to the 2025 legislative session, leaving significant concerns about wetlands protection unaddressed. This delay in action poses serious risks, as postponing the development of state strategies to protect wetlands from drowning in place due to sea level rise can significantly harm Virginia’s recreational, ecological, and water-based economies. Wetlands play an important role in maintaining the state’s biodiversity, supporting fishing and oysters, and supporting clean water. With the threat of losing 89% of tidal wetlands, we hope to move quickly to find strategies to mitigate this potential loss. 

We support this bill because the workgroup's findings can help identify and refine key strategies to safeguard critical ecosystems, protect communities from flooding, improve water quality, defend biodiversity, and build long-term resilience in Virginia.

House Bill 863: Enhancing Flood Disclosure in Real Estate Transactions. Introduced by Delegate Phil M. Hernandez (D-94th District), this bill aims to improve transparency in real estate transactions by requiring disclosures related to flood risks and previous flood damages on properties. The bill is intended to align Virginia's practices with those in states like Texas, New York, and New Jersey, which require more comprehensive disclosure to help consumers have all the information to make the best-informed decision. 

Although this bill has also been postponed to the 2025 session, a Housing Commission committee has been tasked with discussing  potential flood disclosure with hopes of incorporating insights from floodplain professionals, such as representatives from the Virginia Floodplain Management Association.

We support this bill because it would ensure that potential buyers are fully informed about the risks associated with their investment, enabling them to accurately assess potential costs, including the need for annual flood insurance and expensive repairs.

For the increasing risks for homeowners in the era of climate change, see Christopher Flavelle’s New York Times article “As Insurers Around the U.S. Bleed Cash From Climate Shocks, Homeowners Lose.”

House Bill 1458: Designating a Chief Resilience Office and convening an Interagency Resilience Management Team 

Introduced by Delegate Phil M. Hernandez (D-94th District), this bill aims to support climate resilience in Virginia by creating a Chief Resilience Office to convene an interagency resilience management team to help coordinate Virginia’s state agencies’ response to climate change. The bill also requires the Director of the Department of Conservation and Recreation to create an Advisory Review Committee to assist with distributing loans and grants from the Resilient Virginia Revolving Fund. The bill adds an additional emphasis on allowing the public to review the grant and loan applications on an accessible website and let the public comment before each new grant or loan.

The bill was signed into law on April 8th and the compromise budget includes $500,000 in both years 1 and 2 for three positions within the Chief Resilience Office.  Virginia will soon have a point person to assist with interagency climate change coordination.

Henrico, VA – Wetlands Watch is thrilled to announce a significant milestone in Virginia’s journey towards enhanced resiliency against the escalating risks of flooding due to climate change. On April 11th, Henrico County proudly marked its entry into the Community Rating System (CRS) as a Class 5* community, making it one of only four in the state to achieve this notable status.

This prestigious classification in the CRS program not only reflects Henrico's commitment to comprehensive flood risk management, but also rewards its residents with a substantial 25% annual discount on flood insurance premiums. This achievement highlights the county’s proactive strategies in flood mitigation and readiness for future challenges.

Henrico County has implemented a number of key initiatives that have contributed significantly to its successful Class 5* rating, including:

• Prohibition of residential development in FEMA-designated flood zones, which ensures that the most vulnerable lands are preserved for flood mitigation, and new homes aren’t built in flood-prone areas.

• Establishment of buffers around high-risk zones which prohibit residential development within 15 feet of flood zones, and require buildings to be built at least one foot above the expected level of flood waters within 40 feet of flood zones.

• This requirement to build above the expected flood level is known as freeboard, and Henrico enforces one foot of freeboard throughout the medium risk floodplain (or 500-year floodplain). 

• Restrictions on adding soil or other material in these high risk flood zones, along with a requirement that all new non-residential buildings be built at least two feet above the expected level of flood waters. Both measures significantly enhance the safety and resilience of new structures.

• Creation of detailed community flood maps that reflect unique local flood risks and past flood data, which provides residents, business owners, and policy makers with a clearer understanding of flood risks so that they can better plan for the future.

Community resiliency efforts like Henrico’s provide crucial benefits including enhanced disaster preparedness, economic stability, improved public health, and stronger infrastructure. These efforts ensure that communities are better equipped to handle emergencies, experience less economic disruption, and offer a safer, healthier environment for residents. Additionally, they promote sustainability, foster community cohesion, and enhance adaptability to climate change. By investing in flood risk reduction, communities not only protect themselves against immediate challenges but also prepare for long-term sustainability and growth.

Wetlands Watch is honored to lead the Virginia CRS Workgroup that is responsible for aiding communities like Henrico in reducing flood risk, and would like to recognize the brilliant efforts of Henrico County’s Floodplain and Dam Safety Manager, Kristin Owen. Her leadership and commitment to excellence in floodplain management, and deeply collaborative spirit, are what makes such achievements possible.

Well done, Henrico and Kristin! Now on to Class 4! For more information about the Virginia CRS Workgroup, please visit https://www.coastalvacrs.com/.

Wetlands Watch is proud to celebrate a decade of groundbreaking work by the Virginia Community Rating System (CRS) Workgroup. Recognizing the challenges faced by under-resourced Virginia communities, our regional efforts have significantly bolstered their ability to design, implement, and fund key floodplain management programs throughout the state. 

In the Virginia CRS Workgroup, both newcomers and long-time experts in floodplain management engage in a dynamic exchange of insights, questions, and mutual support to bolster the safety and health of their communities. This collaborative approach not only promotes a vibrant exchange of ideas but also deepens the connections among members, fostering a committed and supportive network that thrives through collective assistance.

Over the course of the last decade, our work has enabled Virginia communities to reduce flood risk through more restrictive land use ordinances, more protective building codes, stronger stormwater management standards, and more. The workgroup helps many communities leverage FEMA’s CRS program as a tool not only to reduce flood risk, but also to lower flood insurance premiums for Virginia residents.

This year, we were invited by FEMA Headquarters’ National Mitigation Planning Program to share our expertise with a national audience. Our presentation focused on how to integrate hazard mitigation planning efforts with the floodplain management planning requirements of FEMA’s Community Rating System (CRS). This integration, while a bit technical, helps communities maximize federal funding for their floodplain management efforts, thereby freeing up tax dollars for other projects.

Receiving an invitation from FEMA to present nationally is a significant opportunity for a small nonprofit like Wetlands Watch. It acknowledges our proficiency and achievements in floodplain management and climate resilience, indicating that our methods and solutions are applicable not just in Virginia, but across the nation. This recognition broadens our influence, opening doors to new partnerships, enhancing funding opportunities, and potentially expanding our impact beyond Virginia. Most importantly, it supports community efforts nationwide to bolster adaptation in the face of climate change.

Looking ahead to the next decade, Wetlands Watch is committed to integrating flood resilience efforts in ways that maximize benefits for Virginia communities, and is thrilled to share our techniques and approaches with other states. We recognize the need for more integrated local planning in regions facing increased risk, and are actively working with federal and state programs to ensure that these needs are met.

Wetlands Watch traveled to Washington, D.C. on April 2, 2024, to provide a crucial briefing to Congressional staff on the national security impacts of climate change in Virginia. The briefing, titled “The National Security: Climate Adaptation Nexus,” was hosted by the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) and took place in the Rayburn House Office Building. Mary-Carson Stiff, Executive Director of Wetlands Watch, joined a distinguished panel of national experts in climate adaptation and emergency preparedness.

Mary-Carson Stiff's presentation highlighted the pivotal role that the Department of Defense (DOD) plays in Virginia’s state and local government planning for climate change. With Virginia ranking #1 in DOD spending at $62.7 billion in 2022, and the Hampton Roads region alone receiving $27.1 billion in 2023 for its 16 military installations, the urgency of addressing climate impacts is evident. Despite the region experiencing the fastest rate of sea level rise on the east coast, military spending has continued to increase, comprising 40% of the region's spending. 

Mary-Carson discussed the various challenges faced by military residents, including frequent flood days disrupting school and work, inadequate flood risk disclosure for housing, and nuisance flooding obstructing access to military bases. She emphasized that military readiness and national security are primary concerns in the region, necessitating joint planning exercises to address these issues. Her presentation concluded with a call to support local governments, which are on the front lines of climate adaptation but lack sufficient resources and capacity to meet the growing crisis.

The panel featured representatives from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Institute for Diversity and Inclusion in Emergency Management, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and Jacobs. Panelists provided diverse perspectives on the national security issue, ranging from the importance of local government coordination with military bases to the fundamental need for basic infrastructure like indoor plumbing to ensure national security.

In addition to the briefing, Wetlands Watch Policy Program Director Ian Blair and Mary-Carson Stiff met with Senator Tim Kaine’s legislative staff to discuss critical climate adaptation issues facing Virginians. Key talking points included:

• Protecting Virginia's wetlands from weakened protections: advocating against the Sackett rule in VA.

• Rejoining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) for statewide pre-disaster flood mitigation funding.

• Enhancing US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Coastal Storm Risk Management projects by broadening the scope of flood risk considerations, allowing local governments to set climate change standards, and expanding benefit-cost analyses to include historical and societal values for marginalized communities. A proposed USACE rule could help address these three improvements, which will directly benefit the upcoming projects on the Peninsula, Virginia Beach, and many other communities.

Wetlands Watch’s visits to Washington, D.C. are becoming more frequent as climate change stressors intensify and Congressional representatives seek more information on their constituents' daily impacts. Wetlands Watch is proud to represent the concerns of Virginians in these critical discussions.

Aberdeen Garden’s legacy of unity and self-sufficiency has been a cornerstone of its identity throughout its history. As a direct consequence of this, the community has actively defined its own vision of resilience and set the parameters of the Community Resilience Action Plan. The Plan is thus deeply rooted in the social fabric of Aberdeen Gardens, and represents a way for the community to keep faith with the past and help realize its dreams for the future.

For instance, we explore how rain gardens and bioswales, permeable pavement options and rain barrels aid in resilience efforts, and describe how to design, install, and fund these projects. We show how pollinator gardens, native plant buffers, a restored Aberdeen Creek, and community gardens can help forward resilience efforts while simultaneously increasing the richness of the lived experience for Aberdeen residents.

One project about which we are particularly excited is the Emancipation Oak Project. 

The Emancipation Oak is a historic tree that is located on the campus of Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia, and was the site of a groundbreaking event in American history. On May 24, 1861, shortly after the outbreak of the American Civil War, Union General Benjamin F. Butler declared that enslaved peoples who reached Union territory would not be returned to the Confederacy but considered “contraband of war.” As a consequence of this, Fort Monroe, located at the southern tip of Hampton, offered a haven for enslaved people seeking freedom. Two years later, Hampton residents gathered under the Oak to hear the reading of the Emancipation Proclamation, the very first reading in the South. The Emancipation Oak remains as a powerful reminder of the resilience of the African American people in their pursuit of freedom and equality.

The Emancipation Oak Project seeks to propagate seeds from the Emancipation Oak and use its saplings for tree plantings in Aberdeen Gardens. There is no small amount of enthusiasm for this project in the Aberdeen community, and Wetlands Watch is actively working to recruit the Green Infrastructure Center to identify the best places for the saplings in the Gardens. We are also connecting with Hampton University to gain permission to harvest acorns for the project.

Acorns for the oak have been harvested in the past. One sapling was given to President Obama in 2010 and was subsequently planted on White House grounds.

The Emancipation Oak Project is of particular interest to Wetlands Watch because it shows how community-led resilience efforts can be used to express essential, indomitable truths. Propagation of the Oak throughout Aberdeen Gardens would unite the community’s past struggles with its hopes for the future, and demonstrate how the lessons of history take root and flourish in tangible, living forms. It would express the unyielding optimism of those who plant seeds of freedom and resilience, and the ultimate recipients of their actions will be generations of Americans they will never see.

We are grateful for the generous contributions of all of our partners in this effort.

Twenty-five Projects Funded in Effort to Bolster Resilience Along the Virginia Coast

Norfolk, Virginia - Wetlands Watch and the Virginia Outdoors Foundation are thrilled to announce grant awards in excess of $159,000 for projects that will significantly enhance the ecological health and sustainability of Virginia's coastal areas. Among the projects that were awarded funding:

• Restoration of two acres of pollinator fields composed of native plants along the Eastern Shore

• Creation of an accessible, vibrant green street in the Fulton Hill Business District (Richmond)

• Restoration of a residential tidal shoreline adjacent to the Weyanoke Bird & Wildlife Sanctuary (Norfolk)

• Removal of invasive plants and replacing them with natives at the Cape Charles Natural Area Preserve

• Planting of trees on the banks of the Rappahannock River
  

The Coastal Resilience and Trees Fund aims to bolster coastal resilience and empower organizations and governmental bodies to strategize future resilience initiatives in Virginia's coastal zone. In 2023, its inaugural year, the fund provided support for areas from Petersburg in western tidewater to the Eastern Shore, and Fairfax in the north down to Hampton Roads.

“Funding this year supported the planting of nearly a thousand native trees and shrubs, the removal of invasive species on eight publicly accessible sites, and bolstered resilience efforts in seventeen communities identified as environmental justice areas by Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality,” said Mary-Carson Stiff, Executive Director of Wetlands Watch. “It’s been quite a year.”

The grant program is designed to be accessible to a wide range of organizations and individuals. No matching funds are required and there are no grant minimums. Funds can be distributed upfront or on a reimbursement basis. The grant program also funds green infrastructure maintenance and capacity building, two categories for which other funding sources are scarce. Funds can also be used as a non-federal match to help organizations qualify for larger grant programs.

The program is funded by the Virginia Outdoors Foundation, which was established by the Virginia legislature in 1966 to promote the preservation of open space for future generations of Virginians.

“We thank Wetlands Watch for their partnership in delivering these much-needed funds to Virginia’s coastal communities as they deal with increased flooding brought on by sea level rise and extreme weather events,” said VOF Executive Director Brett Glymph.

The 2024 application window for the Coastal Resilience and Trees Fund grant program is expected to open early next year. For more details, visit the CRTF website at: https://wetlandswatch.org/coastal-resilience-trees-fund.

Norfolk, Virginia–Widely known for its steadfast commitment to Virginia’s coastal communities, Wetlands Watch is launching an ambitious initiative to protect Blue Ridge Highlands communities from the escalating risks associated with climate change.

For over a decade, Wetlands Watch has worked closely with localities to bolster their flood mitigation efforts on the coast. Sea levels have risen by a foot and a half over the past century, and are predicted to rise by another three feet by 2080, presenting dire challenges to local governments as they seek to mitigate impacts for their communities and increase their resiliency. Wetlands Watch has supported efforts to help coastal communities by providing localities with expert technical guidance, essential on-the-ground training, and insider aid in accessing state and federal funding.

Climate change impacts are not just limited to coastal areas, however. 

The Blue Ridge Highlands, located hundreds of miles inland, are also grappling with climate change impacts. Threats in the highlands don’t come from the sea, however, but from the sky, where increases in precipitation result in more frequent and severe flash flooding.

The Blue Ridge Highlands are particularly vulnerable to flash floods because the mountains have a particular way of wringing moisture out of the air and channeling it down into populated areas. During low pressure events, warm, moist air is drawn up into the highlands where it sheds its moisture in the form of precipitation. The rain then cascades down the mountain sides in bursts, putting public safety, homes, and local infrastructure at risk.

In the area of climate change impacts, Coastal Virginia attracts more media attention, more funding, and more support, yet in recent years, the majority of the presidential disaster declarations for Virginia have occurred outside of the coastal zone. The Mid-Atlantic Regional Integrated Sciences & Assessments division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has documented an 18% increase in the intensity, duration, and frequency of rainfall in the Commonwealth. The impacts of this increased rainfall are exacerbated by the fact that summer droughts tend to harden the soil, rendering it unable to absorb water quickly. This can cause dangerous sheet flow hazards for communities.

Wetlands Watch is proud to expand its work inland and excited to learn more about climate change impacts in the Blue Ridge Highlands.

Operating under a three-year grant from the Virginia Environmental Endowment, Wetlands Watch will provide Blue Ridge Highland communities with the technical assistance, training, funding support, and networking structures to start increasing resilience to the impacts of climate change. The program will begin in January of 2024, and will run until the end of 2026.

For further information, contact Mary-Carson Stiff, Executive Director, Wetlands Watch, at mc.stiff@wetlandswatch.org. 

Wetlands are complex, dynamic, and endlessly productive ecosystems that serve as transition spaces–and to a certain extent, hinge points–between the terrestrial and aquatic worlds. They define areas that are constantly changing. Wetlands recede in droughts and expand in times of heavy rainfall. Along the coast, they embrace and release water with the tides.

For hundreds of thousands of years, Virginia’s wetlands have proven remarkably resilient to changes in sea level. As the sea level dropped, they migrated seaward to seize ground that was closer to the water. As the seas rose, they migrated landward to escape drowning.

The Challenge. The ability of Virginia’s wetlands to adapt to changing conditions is impressive, but scientific observers project that they will not be able to adapt to twenty-first century conditions without substantial aid. Driving the crisis is the fact that seas are rising faster than at any other time in the last twenty-seven centuries. The sea level at Sewell’s Point in Norfolk has risen 1.5 feet in the last hundred years, and is projected to rise another 1.5 feet by 2050. 

One challenge is that Virginia wetlands are having to migrate so quickly that they are having a difficult time producing enough organic material in their migration paths to sustain themselves. Wetlands need to lay down organic infrastructure in new areas as they migrate, and they are struggling to keep ahead of rising seas.

The most formidable challenge confronting Virginia’s wetlands, however, does not concern the rate of migration but rather the paucity of available migration paths. As Virginia’s wetlands fight their rearguard action against rising seas, their migration is being cut off by seawalls, bulwarks, dikes, developed residential property, and other human infrastructure along the shoreline. For the first time in their long history, Virginia wetlands have nowhere to go as the sea level rises, and risk drowning in place.

What makes the crisis so difficult is that it seems a direct consequence of dreams and desires that have long been associated with the American spirit. As Ishmael relates in the opening chapter of Moby Dick, 

Take almost any path you please, and ten to one it carries you down in a dale, and leaves you there by a pool in the stream. There is magic in it. Let the most absent-minded of men be plunged in his deepest reveries--stand that man on his legs, set his feet a-going, and he will infallibly lead you to water...

If the percentage of Americans who live by the coast is any indication of their attraction to water, Ishmael may be on the right track. Forty percent of all Americans live along the coast, and in Virginia, the percentage is even higher, with six of every ten residents living in the Tidewater region. 

Acquiring easy access to the ocean may come as a relief to Virginians as they seek out the hidden, magical places to which Ishmael refers, but it comes at a high cost: heavy development along the coast. 

In the present era of rising seas, this puts Virginia’s wetlands in an unenviable position. With water rising at their backs, and human development at their front, wetlands will need substantial aid if they are to escape suffocation. In this era of rising oceans and heavy coastal development, wetlands are truly caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.

Innovative Solutions. Wetland Watch is thrilled to announce an innovative way to help wetlands migrate: a new kind of conservation easement that is tied to sea level rise. For the last three years, Wetlands Watch has worked with the Elizabeth River Project (ERP) and the Coastal Virginia Conservancy (CVC) to design and implement the first-in-the-nation conservation easement that uses future sea levels to trigger conservation actions that facilitate wetlands migration: a rolling conservation easement.

The new easement centers on the Elizabeth River Project’s property in Norfolk, Virginia. The organization built its new Resilience Lab on high flood risk property because their ambitious restoration efforts and educational programming required easy access to the Elizabeth River. ERP understood that the property would eventually be overtaken by rising seas, and committed to vacate the property and allow the wetlands to migrate fully onto it once operations became unsafe. But the organization lacked a formal legal agreement that ensured that their plans would be carried out.

Because there was no legal precedent for a conservation-centered agreement tied to future sea levels, Wetlands Watch volunteered to design a new kind of conservation easement that changes restrictions with changes in our climate. Working with land conservation professionals, sea level rise adaptation professionals, coastal engineers, and legal experts from across the country, we created a way for the Elizabeth River Project to ensure the safe, managed migration of wetlands onto their property.

Conservation easements are voluntary legal agreements between a landowner and a land trust that permanently limit land use in order to protect its conservation values. Unlike traditional conservation easements, rolling easements provide for a more flexible approach to conservation by allowing the terms of the agreement to change depending upon developing circumstances on the ground. For instance, dormant requirements in traditional rolling conservation easements might be triggered by changes in species habitat, the success or failure of stewardship actions, advances in technology, or changes in government regulations. 

Wetlands Watch designed a first-of-its-kind rolling conservation easement that uses future sea levels as legal mechanisms. The first formal trigger will be met when sea levels have risen by about three feet beyond what they are today, and the second, when sea levels have risen by another foot. When these triggers are activated (in approximately 2065 and 2075, respectively), the Elizabeth River Project promises to:

assess wetlands health and buffer migration capacity and perform maintenance on the Property to ensure water quality function, habitat provision, species health, and wetlands migration is maintained, while ensuring unimpeded wetlands migration onto the Property.

The final trigger, the “Deconstruction Trigger,” is projected to occur in or around 2085 when sea levels are about five feet higher than they are today. This will activate a clause that will require the Elizabeth River Project to discontinue the use of the property, remove buildings and structures, and return the property “to a condition where wetlands and shoreline buffer plant species can migrate onto the entirety of the Property unimpeded.”

The Elizabeth River Project in this way is leading the charge in wetlands migration efforts. Not satisfied simply to educate the public on best restoration practices, they are committed to the continued employment of these practices, even if it means vacating their own property and research center to provide a home for migrating wetlands. 

The Coastal Virginia Conservancy is likewise showing extraordinary leadership in this project. They are legally responsible for enforcing this first-of-its-kind agreement, and without them, this wouldn’t be possible.

Looking Ahead. We are honored to have had the opportunity to work with such dedicated partners on this project, and it is our hope that this innovative use of rolling easements will help serve as a blueprint for how Virginia safeguards wetland migration paths over the next pivotal decades.

On the matter of charting a way forward when rising seas threaten human structures, it is perhaps understandable that our first instinct is to defend what we have built. Even wetlands engage in defensive actions, after all, repairing themselves after storms, droughts, and other significant weather events.

Sea level rise is not a weather event, however. It is a global climate effect at least a century in the making, and is not something that can be stopped through expensive actions like coastal armoring. The indiscriminate construction of expensive seawalls, dikes, and pumping stations might save a property for a decade or two, but what then? Seas will continue to rise, more expensive armoring actions will be required to keep up, and all this does is end up encouraging the hazardous habitation of lands below sea level.

Rolling conservation easements that are designed to protect wetlands as they migrate also help facilitate the orderly landward relocation of roads, and keep houses, families, and expensive community infrastructure safely off the floodplain as the seas rise. Not only does this reduce significant hazards to public health and safety, but it also relieves local governments of the escalating costs associated with fighting a losing battle with the sea.

The fact of the matter is that human settlements, unlike wetlands, do not flourish in places that regularly flood with water and release it. Migrating to higher ground is something that both wetlands and human beings will need to accomplish in the decades to come.

We believe that there is real truth to Ishmael’s suggestion that the roving explorations of Virginia’s waterways and shorelines is fundamental to the American experience. At Wetlands Watch, we work by the water, and in some ways can’t get enough of it.

But we should not allow our love for the water to beguile us into thinking that we can hold back the sea. We need to think strategically. At the end of the day, we should not allow our desire to be close to the water destroy the natural ecosystems that drew us there in the first place. 

Eric Caldwell

Note: The Virginia Resilience Master Plan predicts that without intervention, Virginia will lose 89% of its remaining wetlands by 2080.