Norfolk, Virginia is sinking. The already insufficient sea wall ends where a public housing project, St. Paul's, begins. St. Paul's housing projects' residents are Black people. Norfolk is home to the world's largest naval base and there is currently no public plan to prevent it from going underwater.

When Virginia was a colony, the King of England, against the advice of Powhatan people, filled in the creeks and rivers to build a port which is today the city of Norfolk. Because the natural creeks and rivers are long gone, the water has nowhere to go and chronic flooding from the rising sea levels leaves the people and the region more vulnerable to catastrophic disaster than even New Orleans.

The local government, in partnership with federal agencies, is investing in what is labeled a "climate resilience" plan to tear down public housing and redevelop what is an historic Black community, the St. Paul's district. Underwater Projects unpacks this redevelopment plan from the perspective of community leaders and members, government officials, scientists, and climate, and national security experts.

Is the city's and federal government's plan climate resilience or gentrification? Are we dealing with climate reality or greed?

Wanda Sykes narrates animated interstitials throughout the film, and three Black millennial comedians, hailing from Chicago, IL (Clark Jones), Atlanta, GA (Aminah Imani), and locally from Virginia Beach (Kristin Sivills), meet with community members and decision makers to understand the story at hand.