Flood Mitigation Manager Appointed In Alexandria

ALEXANDRIA, VA — A program manager for Alexandria's flood mitigation program has been appointed by City Manager Mark Jinks as the city grapples with continuing flooding concerns.

Effective Oct. 11, Daniel Medina will serve as the Flood Action Alexandria program manager. The new position will include coordination across city departments on the flood mitigation program and manage the city's stormwater capital project lineup. Medina will also be a liaison to the Ad Hoc Stormwater Utility and Flood Mitigation Advisory Group, a City Council-appointed group that has made recommendations for flood mitigation measures.

"Dr. Medina’s broad experience in numerous aspects of water and environmental engineering, especially in urban areas — along with two decades of program management experience — make him well positioned to help deliver the City’s critical stormwater and flood-mitigation projects," said Jinks in a statement.

Medina has experience in stormwater management, flood-risk management, climate resilience and watershed restoration, leading projects in North America, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe and the Middle East. Before his position with the city, Medina served in management and technical leadership roles at national and global consulting firms and has been a consultant for the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank.

Medina has a civil engineering degree from Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia and doctorate from Cornell University’s School of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He is a member of the Water Environment Federation and Urban Water Resources Research Council of the American Society of Civil Engineers. He has been a peer reviewer for the National Research Council’s landmark report "Urban Stormwater Management in the United States" and testified before the U.S. Senate Environment & Public Works Committee about uncontrolled highway runoff on receiving waters. He has also written 80 publications, presentations and workshops on urban watershed issues and co-edited the latest Manual of Practice for "Design of Urban Stormwater Controls."

The city's Flood Action Alexandria is an initiative to address flooding issues. While the city has a history of coastal and flash flooding, recent heavy rainfall events have caused some residential areas to see recurring flash flooding.

One of the main concerns is the stormwater system not having the capacity to handle rainfall from some heavy rainfall storms. Eleven capital projects in the current fiscal year 2022-2031 plan would address stormwater system capacity. The design phases were funded in fiscal year 2022 for the first three projects (Commonwealth and Glebe, Ashby and Glebe, and Hooffs Run Culvert Bypass).

The city recently launched a Flood Mitigation Pilot Grant Program to reimburse property owners for up to 50 percent of flood mitigation costs, up to $5,000. The city is currently processing applications since the program began on Aug. 30.

For more information about the city's flood mitigation work, visit www.alexandriava.gov/FloodAction.