Politics & Government
Flooding Board Recommends Legislation Aimed At Fighting Rising Seas
"Flooding is no longer a future threat; it is a present-day challenge that can present itself on any given day," said Sen. Angelia Williams.
November 19, 2025
Lawmakers are setting their priorities ahead of the next General Assembly session in January, which will begin days before a new governor takes office. As a new legislative era begins, climate issues are expected to take a front seat during debate in the coming year.
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A joint committee focused on recurring flooding in Virginia met Tuesday to recommend ideas for legislation they believe can better aid the commonwealth with addressing flooding and helping funds flow to resiliency projects.
“Flooding is no longer a future threat, it is a present day challenge that can present itself on any given day,” said Sen. Angelia Williams Graves, D-Norfolk.
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The city of Norfolk is in the middle of a major undertaking with the Army Corps of Engineers to build flood walls, levees, tidal gates, pump stations and elevating buildings to prevent rising sea levels from devastating city streets with floodwaters. It is a $2.6 billion project that will be built in phases through 2038 – based on estimations.
The city and state are expected to split the cost share of the project. Members of the recurring flooding board want to establish a flood mitigation local nonfederal match fund to better distribute the cash to localities that have match obligations for projects.
“Currently, there is no mechanism in the commonwealth to participate directly in localities’ non-federal cost shares for federally funded coastal storm risk management projects,” Williams Graves said. “This leaves each locality, regardless of their size, or their financial ability to pursue one time appropriations session after session, after session.”
Awarding those funds in larger tranches rather than the smaller appropriations from the legislature requires a study by the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission be completed. The study will determine how much money the state should be putting up for these matches. The board made a motion to ask JLARC to bump up the study in their schedule to get it finished by 2027.
Other legislation the board recommended for consideration in the upcoming legislative session include creating precipitation standards when it comes to designs of stormwater management facilities, culverts, bridges and other transportation infrastructure. The standards would be set by the State Water Control Board.
Another proposed bill looks to use materials dredged out of waterways to be repurposed for habitats, living shorelines and other resources. Currently, the state designates the sediment from dredging as a waste.
“In some instances, we are taking dredged material and dumping on sleeping blue crabs out in the open water,” said Jay Ford, the Virginia policy manager for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. “In other instances, we’re staging it. We recently have heard that some of the staging areas for this material may not be available (in the future).”
The board also recommended that the Virginia Marine Resources Commission establish a habitat policy oversight committee that can aid the commission in policy decisions around coastal resilience. The oversight committee will have weighted input into the commission’s decisions about mitigation strategies, regulation changes to wetlands and habitats.
Williams Graves also recommended multiple budget amendments, with the caveat that she understands that the budget process will be restrictive next year and all of her requests may not be awarded.
She suggested $50 million be put into the proposed flood mitigation for local nonfederal match funds. She also suggested an additional $200 million be put towards the community flood preparedness fund and to continue to invest in the local assistance fund for infrastructure improvements.
The recommended bills and budget amendments will need to be officially filed for the 2026 General Assembly session by delegates and senators by the beginning of session on Jan. 14.
This story was originally published by the Virginia Mercury. For more stories from the Virginia Mercury, visit VirginiaMercury.com.
