Alexandria, VA -- In Alexandria, the time for talk about sea level rise and climate change is over.
Instead the city has committed itself to a $60 million reality check.
Groundbreaking occurred in February of 2018 for the first phase of an extensive master plan to reconstruct and flood proof Alexandria's waterlogged Potomac waterfront. King Street Park at the Waterfront is being built to replace the Old Dominion Boat Club building and its former parking lot.
In Ellicott City, Md., two catastrophic flash floods since 2016 have forced tough choices.
In August, County Executive Allan Kittleman announced a $50 million plan to demolish at least 19 buildings in the city's historic area to make way for more robust flood walls.
A 2017 EPA report found that Washington DC is among the most threatened cities in the nation for an increase in the frequency of coastal flooding incidents.
The frequency has already increased from about six flood days per year in the 1950s to and average of 32 days per year from 2010 to 2015.
Sea level is rising at a rate of about three millimeters per year in the Chesapeake tidal region, which equates to about one foot per century, according to the US Geological Survey.
Solutions for flooding fall into three major categories:
- Barriers such as sea walls, levees and flood gates, backed by pumps.
- Raising structures on pilings or higher foundations
- Abandoning flood prone structures in favor of allowing land to revert to flood plain which can allow volumes of flood water to spread out.
The cost of doing nothing is astronomical.
In 2017, the real estate research website Zillow estimated that Maryland alone will suffer the loss of as many as 61,548 homes valued at $19 billion by the year 2100 due to sea level rise and the increasing frequency of flooding.
