Contact: Michael Globetti, DNREC public affairs, 302-739-9902

DNREC provides flood mitigation grant to Town of Bowers Beach

DOVER (May 5, 2011) – The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control is working with the Town of Bowers Beach to convert an especially flood-prone part of town into a new community recreational area. The project is part of DNREC’s continuing effort to reduce flooding impacts in Delaware through flood mitigation projects, more effective floodplain regulations and improved risk mapping.

The current phase of the project involves purchasing a home and adjacent vacant parcel near the intersection of Williams and Main Street. This home has been repeatedly flooded and sustained has extensive flood damage rendering it uninhabitable several times. It sits in a very low-lying area in the Town of Bowers Beach, and is projected to be impacted by flooding more frequently due to anticipated sea level rise.

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) had included the home on a “Severe Repetitive Loss” list of structures in Delaware having made several large flood insurance claims. Most recently, the home was extensively flooded in February 1998, May 2008, and November 2009. “This is a primary residence that is vulnerable to severe damage in flood events that generally occur every 10 years or so,” said Michael Powell, environmental scientist for the Division of Watershed Stewardship, which applied for grant money from the Federal emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for the project. “When the house flooded in 2009, the property owner had barely finished making repairs from the 2008 flood. Clearly, this is not a sustainable situation for most people.”

FEMA provided $148,500 in grant funding to DNREC to be used by Bowers Beach town to assist in the purchase and demolition of the home. In addition, the Delaware Land and Water Conservation Trust Fund awarded a grant of $97,000 to the Bowers Beach to purchase an adjacent flood-prone parcel, and construction a recreational area on the site once the house is torn down. Once the site is cleared, the town plans to improve the area to become a local park, raising grade to reduce flooding, and creating a public recreational area. Parking for the adjacent maritime museum will also be improved.

This is the latest flood mitigation project DNREC’s Division of Watershed Stewardship has implemented with grant assistance from FEMA. DNREC is now managing floodplain mapping improvements statewide, which will facilitate more accurate depiction of flood risk.  For example, the first floor of the flooded home in Bowers Beach is about 4 feet below the 100-year flood level, which is the minimum standard required by the NFIP and by local code. The storm of May 2008 inundated the first floor with about 30 inches of floodwater.

For more information about this project or DNREC’s efforts to reduce flooding impacts in Delaware, please contact Michael Powell of the Shoreline and Waterway Management Section, at 302-739-9921, or via email michael.powell@state.de.us.

Vol. 41, No. 177