The City of Charlottesville awarded GKY a contract for engineering services associated with the development of a 2D stormwater management model of the portion of the Moore’s Creek watershed within its city limits.
Its roughly 3.8 square miles make up 37% of the city’s land area and are heavily urbanized, encompassing more than 65% of the city’s high social vulnerability geography, according to a press release.
The new model will be an update of the existing model, which was developed in 2008.
Today’s technology will allow the new model to incorporate much more detail than the current one. The new model will also contain updates to reflect the current as-built condition of the area and its stormwater management infrastructure.
2D models mimic rain and flood conditions and show the movement of water across the surface of the ground, and its flow through and through storm drains, pipes and waterways that make up the local drainage system . These models can simulate flooding impacts from typical and extreme rainstorms, and can be used for long-term resilience and climate change planning under potential future climate conditions.
These modeling tools can combine GIS data such as building footprints and pavement overlays, elevation data, and local storm sewer layouts.
The result is a highly accurate and accessible tool that allows managers to identify areas with an increased likelihood of localized flooding, prioritize them for corrective action, and assess the effectiveness of solutions before building them.
The three-year contract is funded in part by a grant from the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation Community Flood Preparedness Fund, with matching funds from the city.
Draper Aden Associates will serve as a sub-contractor to GKY under the contract providing surveying and data collection services.
