The next meeting of the Sierra Club’s Falls of the James group will feature city officials to discuss recent flooding (hello Battery Park!), rate fee changes, and how well the utility is actually addressing water quality and stormwater runoff. The City has already held public meetings in various locations but this will give another chance to citizens to learn and question proposed changes in how Richmond manages H2O.

Please distribute this notice to your neighborhood groups.

SCFOJ General Membership Meeting

Free and Open to the Public

Monday, January 14, 2008

Time: 7:00 pm

Program: General Meeting

Forum: City of Richmond, VA Dept DCR others

Location: Science Musuem of Virginia, 2500 West Broad Street Richmond Virginia.

Richmond seems to have had more than its fair share of flooding in the past few years – images of the flooding in Shockoe Bottom and residents evacuating from housing in Battery Park still seem fresh. Most understand the main recipe for flooding: big storms bring more rain, more impervious surface increases run-off, aging and failing city infrastructure is inadequate to meet increasing stormwater loads. Big “natural” disasters, coming every few years, are so damaging and so costly, how can any locality keep up?

One way out of this expanding cycle of infrastructure enhancement and system replacement is creating a dedicated revenue source — hence the stormwater utility proposal the city is banking on. This will establish an annual fee paid by all property owners in the City, based on estimations of impervious surface per property. As proposed now, it does provide some relief for property owners with small houses, and discounts for commercial and industrial properties, but is it fair and balanced? And does it really promote water quality benefits, greening and cooling our City, and sustainability? The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation is also formulating stormwater management practices and programs that address these concerns comprehensively. Come hear the facts, and make informed decisions.