Basin Flood Action Program

Dear Residents, 

I am excited to introduce you to the Charleston Integrated Water Plan (CIWP) and the Basin Flood Action Program (BFAP). The CIWP serves as a roadmap for adapting to rising sea levels and changing weather patterns over the coming decades. Thanks to the efforts of a dedicated team, we now have a clear vision and strategy to address our city’s water management needs. 

The CIWP has led to the creation of detailed basin maps for each area of our city. The BFAP will focus on immediate steps to tackle severe flooding issues. City staff worked around the clock to develop detailed maps outlining concepts and plans for the future. In the near term, these maps will be uploaded into our GIS system and become even more interactive. The objective of the Basin Flood Action Program is to identify areas where we can get work on large scale projects right away and to help us plan for a more aggressive maintenance schedule that will alleviate some of the flooding issues that our residents experience. 

I encourage you to locate your basin, review the planned actions, and discover how we can collaborate to implement these strategies. Your engagement and support are essential as we move forward. 

Sincerely, 

William Cogswell 

Mayor of Charleston 


Zoom to your location in the map and click for more basin information and a downloadable PDF

View larger map

How Did We Create BFAP? 

Our staff from multiple departments have invested extensive time and effort into developing this actionable plan to address flooding on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis. We used a heat map highlighting problem areas, feedback from residents about flooding, and locations where roads typically close during heavy rain. 

Heat map

These problem areas guided us in identifying flooding projects, prioritizing them, securing funding, and more. The city is divided into 18 Basins, each with city-led projects that integrate flood mitigation, ecological restoration, and public access to water and nature.

We look forward to starting work on these projects and addressing our flooding challenges through the BFAP.