VIRGINIA BEACH
Barbara Henley is excited about trees.
Specifically, their ability to act like a pump — capturing, storing and removing water from the environment.
Those traits could make them a key player in the fight against flooding.
The Princess Anne councilwoman is spearheading an effort to examine how forests could help with an issue that's plaguing the southern, rural part of the city.
The study will identify which existing forests are integral to prevent flooding and where strategic reforestation would provide the most benefits. More foliage won't eliminate the issue, but it could be part of the solution, leaders said. Virginia Tech’s Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation will conduct the analysis.
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Reforesting in Pungo
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Trees on the property of councilwoman Barbara Henley in Pungo on Friday, Dec. 7, 2018.
On paper, it seems like a match made in heaven where the city could use natural solutions to fight flooding in largely rural areas, Henley said.
"Creating levies is kind of heavy. We’re used to the natural down here," she said. "The people down here — who have been here for generations — appreciate the marshes.”
The initiative is timely. Last summer, southern Virginia Beach faced two major flooding events, both of which longtime residents described as the worst they've ever seen. In the months leading up to the City Council election, flooding was the major issue, with residents repeatedly calling for quicker action.
Development has meant there is less room for the water to go, said lead scientist Daniel McLaughlin. But more forests could help offset that, he said. The city has, for years, also been seeing more frequent and heavier precipitation.
Virginia Beach is an unusual big city as it already has a fair amount of forested land, which Henley described as "a big head start." The existing urban canopy, about 3 million trees, provides more than $250 million in savings and benefits to Virginia Beach each year, according to the city's urban forest management plan.
A big chunk of that, nearly $84 million, stems from benefits pertaining to stormwater runoff reduction. Here's how forests help: They can soak up large quantities of rainfall, and trees can then remove it from the soil and release it into the atmosphere in a process called evapotranspiration, McLaughlin said.
"As far as the economic benefits of trees, the city makes a pretty convincing case," said Brian van Eerden, the director of the Nature Conservancy's Virginia Pinelands Program, which works to preserve wetlands and rare forests in southeast Virginia. "Investing in trees has numerous benefits for the public."
In addition to the city, the study is being commissioned by the Nature Conservancy, Lynnhaven River NOW and the Virginia Department of Forestry, with the Dewberry engineering consulting firm also providing some support. Virginia Beach Director of Agriculture David Trimmer is also leading the charge.
The analysis will be done in two parts and will cost about $25,000.
The first phase — which will examine how existing forests reduce flooding based on their tree density, leaf area and soils — will wrap up in June. With this information, the city will be able to say with good data the role that forests play in storing water and mitigating floods. 
The second phase will identify specific woodlands for conservation and other areas that would benefit from reforesting. Because money will be limited, the leaders of the study want to use resources in strategic ways, targeting the most successful sites.
"Not all possible forest lands are equal in regards to their flood-risk-reduction potential," van Eerden said.
Henley said the city could, in the future, look for willing owners to sell back properties in key areas so the land could be reforested.
No one knows yet where that could be, but van Eerden said, let "the science lead us to where that area is."

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Peter Coutu is a reporter on the Virginia Beach team, covering the southern parts of the city, sea level rise, flooding and transportation. He joined the paper in 2018 after graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 
peter.coutu@pilotonline.com