Coastal Virginia Adaptation &
Resilience Consortium

Rising to the Challenge of a Changing Environment

Coastal Virginia (CoVA) is defined by and dependent on the waters that surround us. And those waters are rising.

Sea level has risen more than 1 ½ feet in the last century and it is projected to rise an additional 1 ½ feet by 2050. Our region is experiencing more flooding events and more costly damages from flooding.

Our communities are at risk.

The Coastal Virginia Adaptation and Resilience Consortium.

But with the risk comes opportunity, to prepare for the future and participate in the adaptation and resilience economy. This work – such as green infrastructure, flood mitigation, living shorelines and pollution control measures — is expected to contribute to economic growth in CoVa, generating $200 million annually over the next decade.

The Coastal Virginia Adaptation & Resilience Consortium (CoVA A&R) was created by the Institute for Coastal Adaptation & Resilience (ICAR) at Old Dominion University (ODU), to help business communities across Hampton Roads, the Middle Peninsula and Northern Neck to prepare, adapt and thrive in a changing environment.

The Consortium brings experts from ODU together with business, industry and government leaders to promote practical solutions that mitigate the risks of coastal flooding, connect businesses and organizations with funding, and grow the resilience economy.

Learn more about the Coastal Virginia Adaptation & Resilience Consortium

Explore Your Risk and Protection Options

Assess Your Risk

Protect Your Facilities

Benefits of Investment

Get Involved

Business and industry leaders in coastal Virginia are invited to join the Consortium, which provides a hub for education programs in applied research and best industry practices, information about funding and grants, opportunities to participate in adaptation and resiliency projects, and networking opportunities with leaders in business, university, and government.

Solving the challenge of resilience to sea level rise and more intense and frequent rain events will need solutions derived by diverse and passionate teams. The CoVA A&R is an organization where you can contribute and make a difference in your local community and beyond.

JD Hines, Get Involved

Projects and Resources

Regional Projects

Ohio Creek Watershed

The city of Norfolk is using a $112M federal grant from the National Disaster Resilience Competition to improve flooding and public access to Ohio Creek. This work includes the Resilience Park, which connects the Grandy Village and Chesterfield Heights neighborhoods and has a flood berm, a restored tidal creek and wetland, and recreation spaces for Norfolk residents.

Living with Water

The city of Hampton, rather than “fighting with water,” is transforming water from a threat to an asset. The strategy creates a safe, sustainable future that maximizes the benefits of the city’s water resources.

Coastal and Wetland Plant Production in the Resilience Economy

As the prevalence of coastal resilience projects in Virginia continues to grow, so does the demand for wetland plant material. Currently, many resilience projects source plants from out-of-state producers. This practice is indicative of a gap in Virginia’s resilience economy, stakeholder communication, and may even have negative ecological consequences. Virginia’s Coastal & Wetland Plant Production Hub seeks to connect in-state plant producers with coastal resilience practitioners and planners with the goal of increasing VA’s preparedness and boosting our resilience economy.

Smiling woman planting dune grass in sand with a trowel.

Projects and Resources

Resources and Funding

Fight The Flood

This organization, in Virginia’s Middle Peninsula, is awarding $3 million in Virginia Resources Authority (VRA) grants for living shoreline construction and septic systems repair.

RAISE Grant

The Consortium identified the funding opportunity for the city of Portsmouth and encouraged them to apply for the $19.3 million grant. The city is using the grant to improve the High Street Corridor, to reduce traffic lanes in a one-mile stretch, and use stormwater management to reduce water pollution and increase resiliency.

Projects and Resources

Education and Studies

Virginia Beach Flood Protection Program Bond Referendum Analysis,

(McNab, et al.), estimated the economic impact of $567 million in flood mitigation investments would have a benefit-cost ratio of 19:1 in the city if a 2021 bond referendum passed.

Education & Studies, Virginia Beach Flood Protection Program

National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) Natural Hazard Mitigation Saves: 2019 This Report notes that implementing flood mitigation plans above code requirements related to hurricane surge provides a benefit-cost ratio of 7:1 (Porter et al.).