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Flooding and Stormwater in Washington, DC

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Flooding and Stormwater in Washington, DC Report on Flooding and Stormwater in Washington, DC JANUARY 2008 National Capital Planning Commission | 401 9th Street, NW, Suite 500 North Lobby | Washington, DC 20004 | 202.482.7200 | www.ncpc.gov Table of Contents I. Executive Summary . .1 II. Potomac River Flood Risk Overview . .3 Sea Level Rise River Potomac Washington’s Hidden Hydrology June 2006 Flooding Causes of the June 2006 Flooding III. Existing and Proposed Flood Control Measures . .5 River Overbank Flooding Measures National Mall Levee Washington, DC Emergency Flood Procedures Proposed National Mall Levee Improvement Urban Drainage Flooding Tidal Flooding Measures Flooding Conclusions IV. What is the Federal Role in Flood Prevention and Stormwater Control? . .9 National Flood Control FEMA 100-year Floodplain Maps Executive Order for Floodplains The National Environmental Protection Act The Clean Water Act Review of National Capital Planning Actions V. What is the District of Columbia’s Role in Flood Prevention and Stormwater Control? . .12 District Stormwater Laws and Requirements DC Floodplain Requirements DC Clean Water Act Requirements Anacostia Waterfront Initiative DC Flood Emergency Plan VI. Next Steps/Action Plan for Monumental Core . .13 Anacostia River VII. Anacostia River Flood Risk Overview . .14 Anacostia River Hydrology and Geography Anacostia River Flooding Hurricane Isabel VIII. Existing and Proposed Flood Control Measures . .15 Role of the Army Corps of Engineers Anacostia River Flood Control Projects Prince George’s County, Maryland Flood Control Project IX. Urbanization, Channelization, and Sedimentation Impacts . .18 Impacts from Anacostia Tributaries on Flooding Anacostia Sedimentation Urban Drainage Flooding Potential Impacts on Present and Proposed Waterfront Development X. Restoration and Remediation Efforts . .20 Washington Navy Yard Storm Sewer Rehabilitation Wetlands Restoration XI. FEMA Floodplain Map Modernizations . .21 Revised FEMA Floodplain Maps XII. Next Steps/Action Plan for Anacostia River . .23 Appendix A: Major Flood Events in Washington, DC . .25 Appendix B: Information on Memorials Submitted to NCPC by NPS . .26 Appendix C: Relevant Laws and Regulations for Flooding and Stormwater Management . .27 Appendix D: Acronyms and Abbreviations . 28 Appendix E: Potomac River Flood Stages . .29 Appendix F: Aerial Maps of Flood Control Projects . .30 National Capital Planning Commission Report on Flooding and Stormwater in Washington, DC | Potomac River Effects of flooding on 9th Street, NW in downtown Washington, DC in June 2006. National Capital Planning Commission Report on Flooding and Stormwater in Washington, DC | Potomac River property loss and environmental degradation caused by I. Executive Summary flooding, but Washington, DC poses some unique At the September 2006 National Capital Planning challenges. First, the division of responsibilities among Commission (NCPC) meeting, the Commission requested various federal and local authorities is not always clear or additional information on flooding. This paper provides uniform, and federal facilities in the business district must the requested information and recommends the next steps rely on the local DC government to manage, regulate, and for reducing the risk of flooding. otherwise control stormwater. Second, flooding in the nation’s capital is particularly unacceptable given the GEOGRAPHICAL FLOODING RISK: The District’s hazards it poses to the security of federal buildings and location at the confluence of the Potomac and Anacostia our nation’s treasured historic resources. Rivers, combined with three buried waterways, broad floodplains, and relatively flat elevations, renders it highly POTENTIAL ACTION STEPS: There are a number of susceptible to periodic flooding. A large part of the strategies NCPC may consider to reduce flooding risks and National Mall and adjacent areas were originally excess stormwater impacts. First, NCPC may review its underwater and were filled as L’Enfant’s plan was realized. own agency’s guidelines and policies to increase the level of Urban development has increased impervious surfaces, scrutiny for proposals within or near the floodplains. reduced vegetation coverage, and further exacerbated Second, NCPC may undertake a number of planning flooding and stormwater runoff through the entire initiatives and local and regional partnerships to further watershed. This problem is especially acute in the National evaluate flooding and stormwater issues and research new Mall area given its downstream location. and innovative measures for stormwater management. Third, NCPC may encourage more proactive stormwater NATIONAL MALL LEVEE: To keep water from the management tactics to improve the water baseline and Potomac and Anacostia River systems out of the ensure that future development does not exacerbate the downtown business district, the Army Corps of Engineers situation. No one solution can eliminate the potential (ACOE) erected an earthen levee along the north side of problem entirely, but a strategic combination, weighed by the mall, running from the Lincoln Memorial to the the costs and benefits, could help minimize the risk by Washington Monument. This flood control measure relies lowering the frequency and magnitude of flooding that upon temporary closures of several north-south streets, does occur. which constitute gaps in the levee. To make the levee more reliable, ACOE proposes making two of the temporary At the February 2007 National Capital Planning closures permanent by extending the levee to meet the Commission meeting, the Commission requested higher topography to the north. To ensure the continued additional information on flooding and stormwater in the flow of cross-mall vehicular traffic, the 17th Street closure Anacostia River watershed. This paper provides the would remain temporary, but the barrier would be requested information and recommends the next steps. redesigned to improve its effectiveness and ease of In general, Anacostia River flooding is less of a threat to assembly. Given the prominent location of the levee on the Washington metropolitan region than Potomac River the Mall, ACOE’s improvement plan merits a careful flooding because of the far greater size and reach of the assessment by NCPC. Potomac watershed, and the volume of water carried by COMBINED SEWER SYSTEM: Downtown DC suffers the Potomac. However, the Anacostia watershed is far from inadequate storm sewer capacity making the area more urbanized than the Potomac watershed and as a especially susceptible to interior flooding. Flooding of the result of increased impervious surfaces, channelization of magnitude experienced in June 2006 is costly and can be a the tributaries, and wetlands destruction, even moderate security threat if critical building systems are affected and amounts of rainfall can cause localized stormwater issues. national historic and cultural resources are threatened. Sedimentation of the Anacostia River is an ongoing While flooding in downtown DC is relatively infrequent, problem with much of the dirt and debris originating the concentration of key federal agencies and the huge upstream from Maryland communities. NCPC supports federal, local, and private costs associated with recovering the restoration of floodplain values and functions from even periodic floods warrants a close examination of whenever possible to mitigate the impact of stormwater cost-effective solutions. Moreover, future growth will runoff resulting from increased development and further strain the system’s already limited capacity. impervious surfaces. A number of communities along the Anacostia River are REGULATIONS & RESPONSIBILITIES: Numerous protected by levees. Over the past few years, the ACOE laws, policies, and executive orders are in place to reduce inspected these levees and has required a number of National Capital Planning Commission 1 Report on Flooding and Stormwater in Washington, DC | Potomac River improvements to ensure that the communities behind the levees are protected in the event of a storm. At the same time, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has updated the floodplain maps for the District and where the levee improvements have not been completed, the proposed floodplain maps have been revised accordingly. NCPC strongly supports levee improvements and urges the ACOE to coordinate with staff early in the design planning process. Further, NCPC urges FEMA to ensure that floodplain maps for the National Capital Region are updated in a timely manner. In the past, Anacostia River flooding has been less problematic as most of the waterfront is publicly-owned, and a significant portion used as parkland. Recently however, there have been a number of private and public development proposals submitted for review and approval. All new development is required to determine if they are within a federally-mapped flood hazard area and if so, obtain flood insurance and meet more stringent building code requirements. Further, federal actions and approvals within the floodplain must comply with Executive Order 11988 which was designed to minimize the impacts of development on floodplains. 2 National Capital Planning Commission Report on Flooding and Stormwater Potomac River | Washington Potomac River of one foot, combined with a major II. Potomac River storm surge, would make the Jefferson Memorial an island and flood the National Mall up to the Reflecting Flood Risk Overview Pool. Hurricane Isabel (2003) produced much more The District is susceptible to four
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