NORFOLK, VA – Residents in Fairmount Park are using technology to pilot Norfolk’s first Adopt-a-Storm Drain program. In the first few weeks of the pilot, 11 stormwater drains in the neighborhood have been “adopted”. The Fairmount Park Civic League members actively engage with the City and agreed to pilot the program after data showed that the area experiences stormwater drainage challenges.
Norfolk’s pilot program is unique in the region.
Code for Hampton Roads, Code for America’s local brigade, partnered with the Office of Resilience to build an interactive mobile web app that allows residents to adopt a storm drain in their neighborhood and then report each time they’ve cleaned the drain. The data collected will help city staff determine if this type of technology is a useful tool for improving civic engagement.
By “adopting” the drain, residents take ownership of their neighborhood and help reduce the need to use City resources to clean drains; a time-consuming, costly effort, especially during the fall season.
The pilot program supports the City’s resilience strategy and efforts to become the coastal community of the future. For information on the resilience strategy and current initiatives, go to
www.norfolk.gov/resilience
If the six month pilot in Fairmount Park is successful, the City plans to expand the program to other neighborhoods.