Bow Creek Stormwater Park will benefit Windsor Woods, Princess Anne Plaza, and The Lakes neighborhoods. These neighborhoods are located in what was once the undeveloped headwaters of the Lynnhaven River.
Stormwater Engineering Center
The design has progressed to 60%. Section I design has started. Plantings around the perimeter have been placed. See Related Information titled "Buffer Planting" for more information including the installation diagram and photos of the completed buffer planting.
For further information, contact Esther Dornin, PE at (757) 385-3933 or papww@vbgov.com. Hearing-impaired call 711.
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:
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. To see the limits of Section I, see the current Bow Creek Stormwater Park Brochure - August 2021.
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.
