VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A new Hampton Roads Planning District Commission draft Joint Land Use Study paints an ugly picture.
The 266-page document focuses on 200 miles of roads leading into six Navy facilities in Norfolk and Virginia Beach which are prone to recurrent flooding now... and that will only get worse as sea level rises in the future.
"Most of our military installations in the region are on the water, so any kind of sea level rise is going to affect them," said Rick Dwyer, Deputy Director of the Hampton Roads Military and Federal Facilities Alliance. "Some more than others, depending on where they're located. But it's definitely an issue that is going to affect all of the military and federal installations in the region."
The study recommends 22 actions to strengthen the Navy's ability to carry out its mission in the face of Mother Nature.
Among the specific recommendations in the new report: raising portions of Hampton Boulevard heading into and out of Naval Station Norfolk, and improving drainage systems around Naval Air Station Oceana.
The proposed solutions could cost more than $50 million.
And according to U.S. Senator Tim Kaine, that's just the beginning of the costs.
"Just in this community, 17 communities, you know you could easily be in the $40 billion range," he said. "And that's just one metro area in one state in the United States. You're talking trillions when you add it all up."
At a roundtable gathering at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation Brock Environmental Center, there was a consensus that action is needed now.
"Sea level rise is alive and well," said Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) "And we're talking about a foot or two or three in the foreseeable future. And if we don't do anything now, it's just going to get worse."
Participants at the meeting agreed sea level rise presents a new type of encroachment that could threaten area military installations if there is ever another round of federal base closings.