Falls Church Officials Continue Push to Address Flooding Issues

The City of Falls Church is moving ahead on several efforts to address flooding issues.

City Manager Wyatt Shields told the City Council on Tuesday (Nov. 12) that 16 people have applied for the stormwater task force that the council approved back in October.

“We have had a very strong response to that,” Shields said about the advertisement for the task force, which can have up to seven members.

The deadline to apply is this Friday (Nov. 15), Shields said.

“We are looking for geographical diversity on this panel and the ability to have a city-wide perspective,” Shields said.

In response to residents’ comments that the task force should include sanitary sewer, Shields said that the rationale for not including that is because it is a different engineering problem, skillset and solution.

“To keep this work focused on stormwater was by decision,” Shields said.

When the task force is ready, Shields said that there will be an organizational meeting about the scope of the group.

Shields also pointed out some “big improvements” recently with stormwater management, including work on the washed-out flood wall at Tripps Run.

He added that work is underway to add water-tight man-hole covers in areas where water pools in the streets.

The city may also implement a program — similar to the one in Alexandria — to help homeowners considering a backflow device in their homes, Shields said.

“That would be a targetted program for areas where we have documented backflow where we can provide that assistance,” Shields said.

The program would need approval from the City Council, Shields said.

“That’s not the solution, but it does provide some additional resilience for homeowners,” Shields said, adding that he hopes the program will be available by the end of the calendar