"April showers bring May flowers" hasn't held true in the NRV this year. Instead, May has been a wet month bringing with it a supposedly "rare storm" dumping large volumes of rain in a short period of time. This followed steady rainfall over the previous week, leaving the ground saturated.
After the floodwaters receded, serious storm water management issues in Christiansburg were left exposed.
Some of the reasons for this go all the way back to when the towns of Blacksburg and Christiansburg were in an annexation frenzy mode, before a state moratorium for this was put in place. During that time, Blacksburg rezoned all the land it added. Christiansburg did not, instead applying a general "A1-Agricultural" zoning classification to the land it acquired from the county.
Subsequently, most of the town council's public agendas over the last two decades have included zoning issues. Since "spot zoning" is not allowed by State Code, council also routinely hears (and generally approves), conditional use permit applications. Due to the hilly terrain found in most areas of the town, council has commonly approved set-back variances to entire subdivisions and site plans, allowing the greatest possible density for development. "Open space" hasn't translated to public parks, rather it includes large areas (often found behind chain link fences) that serve as storm water retention ponds. Most of the time, these areas are dry -- but during a significant rain event, one may see these acres of ground covered by water.
Problems arise when these retention areas are overwhelmed, or run off goes elsewhere. Problems occur when culverts and drainage systems are not kept cleared out, or are blocked, because more than simple rainwater is flowing. Problems occur when storm water infiltrates public sewers, overwhelming the system's capacity and creating unhealthy conditions.
The problem for affected property owners now will be to demonstrate the town is responsible for damages. Just as flood water will certainly rise again sometime in the future, so too will insurance rates for both individuals and the town. Just as large and small objects can be picked up and carried away in flashfloods, clogging unprotected drainage systems, so too can claims and lawsuits be expected to begin backing up in local courts.
In the meantime, Christiansburg property owners and taxpayers should be watching to see how council responds to a problem which has been increasing in frequency and scope -- storm water management -- both for short term mitigation while avoiding adding to these problems in the future.
Certainly, it will rain again. The current forecast is for another wet week. Where it all goes and how it is controlled remains a concern until council takes action.