The Northern Neck Planning District Commission (NNPDC) region covers 10 local governments with a population around 50,000.  These localities include Lancaster, Northumberland, Richmond, and Westmoreland counties and the towns of Colonial Beach, Irvington, Kilmarnock, Montross, Warsaw, and White Stone.  The region’s rural landscape boasts a variety of wildlife refuges, natural area preserves, and state parks.  From Fones Cliffs, a recently reacquired part of the Rappahannock Tribe’s homeland, to the birthplace of George Washington, the Northern Neck is also rich in Native American and colonial history. 

Virginia CZM has partnered with the NNPDC on a variety of efforts, including financial and coordination support for recreational opportunities and coastal economies.

What Role Has Virginia CZM Played in the Region?

Blue and Green Infrastructure 

In the late 2000s, many people from nearby urban areas built retirement homes on the Northern Neck waterfront.  Since these development pressures were expected to continue, NNPDC developed a regional conservation corridor plan for the four counties to strategically inventory and preserve areas in all four counties with high habitat, ecological, recreational, historic or water quality values.  This work was funded by Virginia CZM during the Program's 2008-2010 Blue and Green Infrastructure Focal Area.  Blue and green infrastructure includes all natural amenities on land and in water that benefit humans and the ecosystem.  This can include everything from tidal wetlands to kayak launch areas.  At the end of this three-year project, NNPDC and each county produced a report on strategies to help implement natural area protection plans.  These reports also included an assessment of the vulnerability of the region’s green infrastructure and select manmade infrastructure to sea level rise, such as sewage treatment plants. NNPDC staff presented this information to the four counties' planning commissioners to aid them in making  recommendations for land-use decisions. 

Working Waterfronts

In 2018-2019, Virginia CZM supported NNPDC with funding and technical support to develop educational materials that highlight the importance of working waterfronts.  Working waterfronts are lands along the shoreline that are used for water-dependent industries such as fishing, aquaculture, oyster hatcheries, marinas, boat building and repair, eco-tourism, and charter operations.  This work built on implementation of the 2016 Working Waterfronts Master Plan, and included creation of a Working Waterfronts Story Map and a Working Waterfronts promotional video.  

Coastal Resilience

With approximately 1100 miles of shoreline, the Northern Neck faces a number of impacts from coastal hazards, such as storms, flooding and erosion.  Beginning in 2019, Virginia CZM funded the Northern Neck Resilience Adaptation Feasibility Tool (RAFT) process.  The RAFT team worked with the 10 local governments in the region to develop unique coastal resilience scorecards, implementation checklists, and helped set up locality implementation teams to put this work into action.  Using Virginia CZM Technical Assistance funding and working with the locality implementation teams, NNPDC built upon this work by developing a region-wide Hazard Mitigation Plan that incorporates RAFT actions and lessons. 

NNPDC Projects Funded by Virginia CZM

The table below contains NNPDC projects funded by Virginia CZM since FY 1992. This list does not include the annual Technical Assistance grants. Virginia CZM funds are typically matched 50/50, but the table below only includes funds provided by Virginia CZM. Any Project Names that are linked in the table below will take you to the Project List for that fiscal year where you can open the Task Number at the bottom of the page to find more information on the corresponding project.