The federal government will not pay for millions of dollars worth of flood protection in Huntington, a Fairfax County community devastated by surging stormwater in summer 2006, according to early data from the Army Corps of Engineers.
Although preliminary, the determination is bad news for homeowners who want to prevent a repeat of the June 2006 flooding, when Cameron Run flooded over its banks and swamped more than 150 homes along Huntington’s Arlington Terrace and Fenwick Drive with putrid water.
Building a flood wall, which could cost about $35 million, and dredging Cameron Run, which is estimated at about $17 million, are too expensive for the federal government to fund.
The corps was commissioned to examine the cause of the flooding and ways to prevent it.
Neither project meets the Army Corps’ threshold for cost and benefit, which weighs the overall price tag against factors such as the cost of fighting the flood, damages to homes and vehicles, evacuation and temporary housing, Corps spokesman Chris Augsburger said.
The corps’ decision drew protest from the Huntington Community Association, which passed a resolution this month urging the agency to re-evaluate its cost-benefit analysis with standards that include the value of the community and “the importance of preventing loss of life, illness and injury.”
Fairfax County Chairman Gerry Connolly said he didn’t take the corps report as the last word.
“We haven’t given up on the state, and we haven’t really yet lobbied our congressional delegation in terms of the federal response,” he said.
Although Huntington was spared from flooding this year, community association President Mack Rhoades said he believes the high water will return. Fairfax County, he said, needs to “suck it up” and pay for the dredging, instead of arguing over the source of the funding.
“I’m getting sick and tired of excuses from them. … It’s just getting old, here we are almost a year and a half out, and there is no prevention in place,” he said.
Fairfax County expects firmer data in January on whether the projects qualify for federal money, according to Randy Bartlett, director of stormwater management.
