Project Information

According to aerial photos from 1949, the area was originally forest surrounded by farmland.

Much of the area has relatively low elevations. Low elevations, coupled with increasing sea levels (approximately one foot over the last 50 years) and the increasing frequency of storms with significant tides and rainfall amounts, have resulted in severe flooding of the neighborhood during extreme events.

Potential solutions include:

• Construction of barriers and gates to minimize tidal flooding
• Construction of stormwater pump stations
• Additional stormwater storage capacity
• Increasing the conveyance capacity of the stormwater pipes

Creating storage to manage rainfall from intense storms is critical to mitigating the flooding of homes and streets within these neighborhoods.

The City of Virginia Beach has developed a plan that explores using the approximately 121-acre, City-owned Bow Creek Golf Course (BCGC) for flood mitigation. The vision for the project is to convert the land use from a golf course to a multi-faceted facility that will provide significant stormwater storage to mitigate flooding and restore natural systems while still providing active and passive recreational opportunities. The Bow Creek Recreation Center will remain.

Bow Creek Stormwater Park has been phased into Sections IA, IB, and II. Section I, design underway, includes the eastern portion of the site.

During the construction of Section I, the northwest portion of the golf course will be open to the public for passive recreation. The existing cart paths will be re-purposed as walking trails while the work on the eastern side is underway. Once complete, the public will have access to the trail networks and wildlife viewing platforms of Section I, while design and construction efforts will shift to Section II construction.