‘Bad land-use practices’ said to worsen flooding

Last week’s flooding caused destruction throughout the territory, including what appears to have been significant damage to the ongoing Brandywine Bay beach development project.

Some of that havoc, however, could have been prevented had developers in the territory used better drainage practices over the years, environmental experts argued.

“Most of the flooding happened as a result of bad land-use practices,” said Clive Petrovic, a biologist and environmental consultant. “To a degree, you can’t stop flooding, but a lot of the damage would have been preventable.”

Inadvisable land-use practices — which take various forms — impede the environment’s natural water flows and exacerbate flooding and erosion, according to Dr. Shannon Gore, a marine biologist and managing director of the Association of Reef Keepers.

For example, layering ghuts like the one along Road Town’s Waterfront Drive with flat concrete prevents water from seeping into the surrounding ground, increasing the flow of stormwater and the potential for damage, Dr. Gore explained. 

Failing to regularly clean out drains also prevents them from being of much use during flooding, she added.

In 2014, Dr. Gore authored a book on the subject, titled Best Management Practices: A Guide to Reducing Erosion in the British Virgin Islands.

In it, she and other contributors outlined ways for construction projects to enforce proper drainage patterns, reducing the potential for flooding, erosion and damage to both land and marine environments.

Some of the construction suggestions include phasing necessary soil disturbances over time; scheduling site clearing for dryer times of the year or outside of main wildlife reproduction periods; preserving critical natural vegetation; using appropriate buffer zones between developments and locations like shorelines and ghuts; and enforcing proper housekeeping of construction sites with regards to waste, fuel and water.

Brandywine

Stormwater appears to have damaged government’s long-delayed Brandywine Bay beach development project during the recent flooding.

The exact degree of destruction is uncertain: Natural Resources and Labour Minister Dr. Kedrick Pickering and Permanent Secretary Ronald Smith-Berkeley — the leaders of the ministry in charge of the project — did not respond to requests for comment on the issue.

However, much of the beach’s reclaimed sand appears to have washed into the ocean, leaving the bay tattered and uneven.

Less than a month earlier, Dr. Pickering (R-D7) warned about the project’s fragility while speaking at the Climate Change Trust Fund Board’s inaugural meeting.

“With all the work that we have done on the beach at Brandywine Bay, the destruction of the pond over the years now puts the beach that close to destroying all of the hard work that we have done,” the minister said. “So I can see a project sitting there waiting for the restoration of the pond in that area if we are going to realise the benefits of the developments that we envisioned for Brandywine Bay.”

History

Should the flooding damage postpone the project, it will be the latest in a long series of delays for the development, which was most recently slated to cost some $1.5 million.

The NRL Ministry began work on the project in October 2015, but it was forced to halt shortly thereafter because it had not obtained the required permission from the Town and Country Planning Department.

Early that December, TCPD Chief Planner Gregory Adams said the development had received permission, but work on the project — which is designed in part to offer cruise ship passengers another attractive beach option — did not resume until land reclamation got under way in early July 2016. At the time, Mr. Smith-Berkeley said he hoped the development would be finished by that October.

In October, government Communications Director Arliene Penn said the project was expected to cost at least $1.5 million, though planning documents indicate that it was initially slated to cost $300,000.

Those documents note that the development plans include 35 parking spaces, eight vendor spaces and other tourist amenities.

Local architecture firm AR Potter and Associates Ltd. is managing the development.

Avaline Potter, the firm’s architect, declined to comment on any of the apparent stormwater damage.