MEMORANDUM
To:
Members of City Council
From:
Ted Henifin, Director of Public Works
Date:
November 8, 2005
Subject:
Newmarket Creek Flooding
The intense rain event on October 8, 2005 has sparked renewed interest in drainage capacity of
Newmarket Creek. The rain event on October 8, 2005 dumped over 5 inches of rain in the city
over a short duration, with the significant portion of the rain falling late morning through the
early afternoon. This event overtaxed all drainage systems within the city, with many systems
taking several hours to return to normal conditions. While many streets, yards, garages and some
cars were flooded, staff has had no reports of any homes actually flooded during this event.
The sections of the City that drain through Newmarket Creek were some of the areas that took
the longest to recover after this rain event. Newmarket Creek drains a significant portion of the
city, including areas of Northampton. The neighborhoods surrounding Newmarket Creek have
been subject to more flooding over the past 10 years than any other section of the city. As such,
the Newmarket Creek area has been the subject of several studies, the latest completed in 2003
by the US Army Corps of Engineers. That study evaluated seven alternatives:

No action

Snagging and Clearing – Removing all vegetation and debris from the existing flow
area of the creek.

Channelization – Dredging a wider channel (100’ – 200’) along the length of the creek

Big Bethel Road Bridge – Replacing the Big Bethel Road bridge with a higher and
wider structure

Levee – Construct a levee with the required storm water pumping features only around
the Paula Maria apartments

Levee and Channelization – A combination of the two listed alternatives

Levee and Snagging and Clearing – A combination of the two listed alternatives
Newmarket Creek Flooding
Council Memo, Page 2 of 2
2/13/2016
The Corps study found the Big Bethel Road bridge project to not be economically justified based
on the Corps cost/benefit criteria. The other alternatives were only justified by the inclusion of
the Paula Maria, Century Plaza and City Line Apartments where the concentration of units and
high dollar value of damage created enough benefits to offset the high costs of all the
alternatives.
The Corps recommended alternative was the snagging and clearing of the channel. This option
was presented at a public meeting sponsored by the Aberdeen Gardens Historical and Civic
Association on April 24, 2003. The Corps representatives outlined the options for the city as:




Enter into a cost sharing agreement with the Corps of Engineers to have the Corps
conduct more detailed engineering, environmental and economic study of the alternatives
at an estimated cost to the city of $200,000 resulting in a cost shared contract for
construction completed in November 2009.
A cost sharing agreement to have the Corps do more detailed work on the hydrology and
hydrodynamics of Newmarket Creek at an estimated cost to the city of $50K-$75K and
one year to complete.
The city could take over the snagging and clearing project, obtain their own permits and
perform the work with contractors or in-house forces.
Take no action.
The attached meeting notes from Tom Lochen (Corps of Engineers) provides the most concise
summary of the options as the Corps presented them to City staff and was the basis for the
decision to support the snagging and clearing with city forces as the preferred option.
In a letter dated My 6, 2005, the Aberdeen Gardens Historical and Civic Association requested
the city move forward with the snagging and clearing operation as “the option of choice.” The
letter went on to say that the neighborhood would apply for Neighborhood Drainage
Improvement Funds to pay for the snagging and clearing.
The city obtained the necessary permits and conducted the snagging and clearing operation in the
winter of 2004/2005 using in-house forces. Based on the Corps of Engineers study (and a
previous study conducted in 2000 for the City of Newport News, there are no other economically
justified solutions to the flooding of the Newmarket Creek area. Staff continues to work with
neighborhoods, addressing small issues and performing maintenance, but the flooding due to
intense rains of short duration will continue.
Newmarket Creek flooding is a frustrating issue as no solution has been identified that solves the
problem. As a low, flat flood plain that is tidally influenced, the only way to prevent future
flooding is relocation of all structures out of the flood prone area. Anything short of that is
subject to fail under the ‘right” storm conditions that create a high tide and intense rain. Study
after costly study has yet to find a solution. In response to the potential for additional flood
damage to some of the lowest structures along the Newmarket Creek, staff is preparing a
recommendation for Council’s consideration regarding creation of a Flood Assistance Program
modeled after a similar program in Newport News. Under this program, the city would purchase
homes that have experienced flooding and meet certain elevation criteria. This recommendation
will come to Council by February 2006.