Virginia DEQ - Virginia CZM Program 2008 Coastal Grant Project Description and Final Summary

Under this task the Virginia Networked Education for Municipal Officials Program (VNEMO) will provide support to the Planning District Commissions (PDCs) and localities requesting assistance through the VCZM Sustainable Community Planning Focal Area. Assistance is expected to be requested in the areas of blue/green infrastructure planning and planning for adaptation to climate change. The VNEMO Program will also support efforts to develop the Virginia Healthy Waters and Healthy Lands Initiative as it applies to advancing the Sustainable Community Planning focal area. In this regard, the Coastal NPS Program Manager will help facilitate discussion among the many partners on the topic of natural resources based land use planning to further statewide coordination of assistance to localities.

The Virginia NEMO Program is a partnership between the Chesapeake Bay Office of NOAA/Virginia CZM/EPA/NPS (Chesapeake NEMO) and the state of Virginia to provide request-based education and/or technical assistance to localities in Virginia. The program relies upon the DCR Regional Offices (Regional Managers and Watershed/TMDL Coordinators), DCR Division of Chesapeake Bay Local Assistance (DCBLA), Planning District Commissions, Soil and Water Conservation Districts, and Watershed groups as the delivery mechanism.

Federal Funding:

$30,944

Project Contact:

Todd Janeski - (804) 371-8984; todd.janeski@dcr.virginia.gov

Project Status:

10/1/2008 - 9/30/2009; Project Completed

Final Product Received:

Virginia NEMO Support for Sustainable Community Planning Final Report (pdf)

Project Summary Provided by Grantee:

The Coastal NPS Program Manager continued to implement the VNEMO Program to support the Sustainable Community Planning Focal Area Projects. VNEMO, in coordination with Chesapeake NEMO, supported the Northern Virginia Regional Commission (NVRC) in their efforts to plan for sustainable shoreline and near-shore community development, restoration, protection, and revitalization along Northern Virginia's tidal waters.

Planning specifically for a rise in sea level supports the development of a regional climate change adaptation toolbox for Northern Virginia.
The VNEMO Program worked closely with the NVRC to plan and outline the process of working with the northern Virginia communities. The VNEMO program assisted in the development of the outline that guided the facilitation process and outreach strategy for the meetings. VNEMO directly assisted in the facilitation of the meetings. The VNEMO Program has continued a strong role with the implementation of the project in coordinating specific roles and responsibilities within the program delivery and context of the Shoreline Project, under the guidance of the NVRC, the VNEMO client. VNEMO provided technical analysis of documents and products developed as part of the NVRC project and will integrate a VNEMO partner to assist in the economic analysis portion of the project. This project partner is a core VNEMO Program Coordinator through the Virginia Tech Cooperative Extension Community Viability Program. Overall project coordination was assisted through the use of the Chesapeake Network web tool www.chesapeakenetwork.org.

In addition, the NEMO Program was able to secure Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data, for some parts of the Coastal Zone including for the NVRC, Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission and the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission to assist in the analysis of vulnerable areas subject to sea level rise and storm surge. While the data was provided at no cost, some gaps and inconsistencies were reported with its application. Therefore, further acquisition of LiDAR data for the coastal zone will be needed to support the Sustainable Community Planning Focal Area Projects.

Disclaimer: This project summary provides the federal dollars initially awarded to the grantee. Due to underexpenditure or reprogramming of grant funds, this figure may change. For more information on the allocation of coastal grant funds, please contact Laura McKay, Virginia Coastal Program Manager, at 804.698.4323 or email: Laura.McKay@deq.virginia.gov

A more detailed Scope of Work for this project is available. Please direct your request for a copy to Virginia.Witmer@deq.virginia.gov