We reside at River Towers, in the Belle Haven/Belle View/New Alexandria area of Fairfax County, which has experienced flooding from the Potomac Rive/Dyke Marsh and from storm-water runoff from adjacent areas.  We anticipate making use of the Flood Preparedness Fund when it becomes available, to increase our resilience in the face of increased flooding threats due to climate change and disturbed weather patterns.

We have reviewed the draft Guidelines, and offer the following comments:

• We commend the emphasis on nature-based solutions.
• We believe the 25% floor for funds to be set aside for low-income communities is too low, and would like to see it raised to at least 30% (ideally 33%, one-third).  Climate justice is long overdue.  Perhaps some funding could be allocated for reaching out to and guiding low-income communities in making use of this opportunity.
• Every day brings new and more alarming understanding of how climate change is affecting our waterways.  Can the first item under Planning Principles be made more explicit to include flexibility to not just follow the best available current science, but to update the guidelines of the fund as experience changes the science?

Thank you for the opportunity to review and provide feedback on these important guidelines.

Sincerely,

Deborah Hammer, Barbara Bacon, and Michael Sieracki

6631 Wakefield Drive

Alexandria, VA 22307