A Flood Resilient Arlington (Story Map)
At some points in its history, Arlington made smart decisions to anticipate and address storm risks, such as acquiring floodplain sites in south Arlington in the 1950's and converting them into parklands. At other times, Arlington made decisions that have had long-term adverse impacts. Most notably, as Arlington grew substantially during and after World War II, the County decided to encase the many streams flowing through the northern portion of the County in shallow pipes, and then cover those pipes to facilitate construction of new homes, other buildings and streets on top of the pipe system. Unfortunately when major storms overwhelmed the capacity of these pipes, the excess water flowed around the pipes along the historical stream beds and caused localized flooding. That legacy accounts for much of the flooding we are now experiencing in some Arlington neighborhoods. Click the link HERE.