Illustration via Adobe Stock
An environmental justice nonprofit and the University of Richmond have partnered to fix flooding across the city. Go With the Flow, a community flood mapping project that began March 20 and concludes Sept. 1, invites locals to complete a survey each time it rains.
“There’s a lot of different ways that Richmond is being affected by climate change, and one of them is more intense precipitation events,” says Stephanie Spera, associate professor of geography, environment and sustainability at UR. Students in Spera’s department are using the flood survey data to build a detailed map of where it floods, supported by on-the-ground information from Richmond residents.
The online survey asks participants if their area has flooding, standing water or neither and allows users to upload a photo of their surroundings. By capturing location data and images of flooding in neighborhoods across Richmond, the nonprofit organization Southside ReLeaf hopes to help the city identify where improvements in flood infrastructure are needed.
“Our systems just weren’t built for what we’re seeing right now,” says Sheri Shannon, co-founder and director of programs at Southside ReLeaf. “So, we’re hoping that this data will help city leaders ... really make the case for why we need to prioritize flood mitigation in the city, especially in areas like South Side, [which is] already dealing with extreme heat and other social inequities because of how the neighborhoods are designed.”
In October, the nonprofit received a $25,000 “capacity-building” grant from the Robins Foundation, and Go With the Flow is its first community science project, which Shannon says was inspired by work to identify urban heat islands in Richmond led by Science Museum of Virginia scientist Jeremy Hoffman. The findings from that study, which partially came from community members, helped to identify where trees and green infrastructure should be added. Shannon hopes Go With the Flow will have a similar outcome.
“You hope it’s a win-win-win,” Spera says, “It’s a win for UR, a win for Southside ReLeaf and a win for Richmond itself.”
