Plans and Reports

The Resilient Hampton Initiative has worked in multiple phases to implement the living with water approach across the City. Throughout this effort, the Initiative has approached our work at multiple scales, from looking at policy and process changes that influence resiliency across the City, to supporting plans and projects designed to create benefits for a whole neighborhood, to identifying opportunities to support individual homeowners to increase their resilience.

Resilient Hampton Plans 

Phase I: Citywide 

In 2017, the city completed an 18-month planning process and published Hampton’s citywide plan for resilience, Living with Water Hampton: A Holistic Approach to Addressing Sea Level Rise and Resiliency. This plan frames the challenges of water; establishes guiding principles, values and goals for responding to those challenges; and identifies citywide and watershed-level strategies to live with water. 

Next steps identified from this work included developing a resiliency component of the existing Joint Land Use Study (JLUS) with Joint Base Langley-Eustis Air Force Base (JBLE). With funding from the Department of Defense Office of Economic Adjustment, the city began that process together with JBLE in 2017. The resulting JLUS Resilience Addendum analyzes how JBLE can remain mission-ready in the face of increased risk of sea level rise and recurrent flooding. It provides 29 recommendations for further work to undertake to make sure the base remains active and resilient.

Phase II: Watershed Level 

Together, the City and community partners are creating watershed-level plans and projects for resilience under Phase II of Resilient Hampton’s work. 

Newmarket Creek. Building upon Phase I, the pilot in the Newmarket Creek Watershed created the Newmarket Creek Water Plan (PDF) and Atlas (PDF), published in 2020. This plan prioritizes and recommends specific projects designed to a conceptual level to establish scope, benefits and cost. It also identifies partnerships and opportunities to leverage funding. With proceeds from the first environmental impact bond in Virginia, Hampton is implementing projects envisioned in the Newmarket Creek Water Plan. 

Downtown Hampton, Phoebus, and Buckroe. In October 2023, Hampton completed its second watershed-level process to identify resilience opportunities in the Downtown Hampton, Phoebus, and Buckroe Water Plan. This plan replicates the successes of the Newmarket Creek Water Plan, while designing for the unique characteristics and conditions of three cultural, historic, and economic hubs in our city. You can learn more about the work at the plan webpage. 

Other Documents: 

• 2022 Annual Voluntary Disclosure Report for the city’s Environmental Impact Bond (PDF)
• 2021 Annual Voluntary Disclosure Report for the city’s Environmental Impact Bond (PDF)
• Hampton Comprehensive Waterways Management Plan (2012) (PDF)
• Content from the Downtown Hampton, Phoebus, and Buckroe Water Plan Development
  • Design Workshop Community Meeting Presentation (2022) (PDF)
  • Data Maps and Initial Design Strategies Summary (2022) (PDF)
  • Final Plan Community Meeting Presentation (2023)(PDF) 
  • Final Plan Community Meeting Display Boards (2023)(PDF) 
• Content from the Newmarket Creek Pilot Water Plan development 
  • Design Workshop Community Meeting presentation (2019) (PDF)
  • Presentation (PDF)to City Council (2020) 
  • Newmarket Creek Summary (PDF)(2021)
• Content from the Living with Water Hampton Community meetings (2017)
  • Fox Hill, Harris Creek, and Grandview – presentation (PDF) and comments (PDF)
  • Buckroe, Fort Monroe, and Bayside – presentation (PDF) and comments (PDF)
  • Newmarket Creek and Back River – presentation (PDF) and comments (PDF)
  • Harbor and Hampton River – presentation (PDF) and comments (PDF)
• Dutch Dialogues Virginia Workshop (2015)
  • News Release (PDF)
  • Drawings and renderings 
  • Opening Session Recording (video)