Arlington County buys home in effort to mitigate flooding

ARLINGTON, Va. — A Northern Virginia county is buying up real estate to prevent devastating floods in the future.

On Saturday, the Arlington County Board of Supervisors approved a decision to buy the property at 4437 18th Street N, in the county’s Waverly Hills neighborhood, for $969,200. The property was one of 38 in the Waverly Hills and nearby Cherrydale neighborhoods that county officials identified as suitable for Arlington’s voluntary acquisition project.

The county is buying properties in flood prone areas with in an interest in possibly installing new stormwater infrastructure to the benefit of the neighborhood’s remaining residents.

In July 2019, flash flooding ripped up trees and moved cars on the street along 18th Street N. Aileen Winquist, Arlington’s stormwater communications manager, said storms have become even more dangerous since. 

"We have been seeing changes and patterns in the storms and more intense storms,” she said.

Winquist said Arlington County would like to see some properties be converted into “overland relief pathways”.

“Which is a safe flow path for water when a very large storm comes and the storm system can potentially become overwhelmed,” she said. “You want to have this overland relief flow path for water to safely get to the storm drains or streams and kind of away from nearby structures."

Winquist added many properties in Arlington County and the surrounding D.C. region were built at a time when stormwater management wasn’t thought of. She said there are homes, in the low lying parts of Waverly Hills, that are particularly susceptible to flooding due to that fact.

"At that time, that [local] stream was buried and put into storm sewer pipe and homes and businesses and neighborhoods were built on top of that,” she said.

The county will spend more than $300,000 to tear down the home located on 18th Street N. Winquist said even if just a few properties take the county up on offers to sell their properties, Arlington will still look at ways to prevent flooding in the area.

She added the county will include the community’s input as to what it does next with any properties it acquires.

Matt Swingle said he received an offer from the county and is appreciative they are working to address flooding in the area.

"I think their hearts are in the right place,” he said. “I just think it's a shame that there's no better solution than having to sell houses."

But, he added it will ultimately be a hard decision for him and his family as they have lived in their house on 18th Street N for 28 years.

"If the next [storm’s] worse than 2019, who knows?" he said.

Waverly Hills Civic Association President Paul Holland said, in a statement, the neighborhood is also thankful for DES’ efforts but it still has questions too. Read Holland's full statement below: 

“For the Waverly Hills Civic Association, stormwater issues are our top priority. Our neighbors were dramatically impacted by major flooding events in 2018 and 2019. As Civic Association President, I lose sleep whenever a major rain event occurs because of the potential effects to these neighbors and their homes. 

The Department of Environmental Services (DES) staff has engaged in considerate and consistent dialogue with our Civic Association since 2018. We are grateful for the staff's efforts. The frustrations from residents, which I have heard, relate to the extended timeline to identify a solution. Any solution that involves land acquisition should include a coordinated plan with the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) to understand how that new open space will be maintained and utilized. In November 2020, Arlington voters approved the stormwater bond for $50+ M to help fund stormwater management projects. We are happy that some of that bond money went to Westover and created the underground vault at Cardinal School to stop flooding of that neighborhood, but we still need a timely solution to stop flooding in Waverly Hills and Cherrydale. We hope that solution is also coordinated with future stormwater management along Langston Boulevard. 

The Waverly Hills Civic Association worked with DES on the Voluntary Property Acquisition to Reduce Flood Risk FAQs that are posted on the County website. This is a good start but there are additional questions to be answered. Our primary concern is that the acquired lots will be well designed and taken care of by the County to become usable park land and/or attractive open space and a neighborhood amenity."