What happens when the County first comes on my property?

The County will not enter your property until the County has contacted you and received a right of entry. The first visit is to assess the drainage situation and evaluate the conditions of the ditch. No work will be performed during this visit and the County will access the ditch with as little impact to your property as possible.

If the ditch section on your property is accepted into the ditch maintenance program, the County will plan with you to determine the best time to come back with equipment and perform the maintenance.  The County will not enter your property until you have been contacted and your schedule and concerns are considered.

The County provides you with advanced notice of ditch maintenance schedules and planning and will work around any of your concerns or needs. The County is sensitive to hunting seasons, crop seasons, and other needs for the use of the property. The ditch maintenance crew will work out equipment staging areas and include other concerns with you before planning the work. Meeting on site with you is the most effective method.

How does the County let me know they are returning to the property?

After an easement is granted and all work is performed, the County will not return unless there is reason to believe that a new blockage has developed. If that is the case, the Storm Drainage Program Coordinator will coordinate return to your ditch segment, as follows:

Re-inspection:                  

• 30-day advance written notice of plans to walk the ditch system on your property
• 7-day phone notice prior to scheduled date of inspection, if a valid phone number is on file
• In-person contact on the day of the inspection, if the landowner is on the property and available

  Brush clearing and/or debris excavation:

• 30-day advance written notice of plans to maintain the ditch system & request for any scheduling needs or concerns you may have
• 14-day advance phone notice to verify date of arrival on site, if a valid phone number is on file
• 1 to 3 days advance in-person contact, if the landowner is on the property and available, before staging equipment

In the event additional ditch maintenance is needed and the four (4) year temporary easement has expired, the landowner must grant another four (4) year temporary easement to perform additional maintenance.

In the case of an emergency situation, the County will contact you and also try to visit you at your residence, if you reside locally, to let you know what has to be done to re-establish drainage. This is the only situation where the County may need to access your property expeditiously. 

Please note that the County is sensitive to your plans and needs, including situations such as hunting seasons, crop seasons, any planned construction activities, and other needs for the use of the property. County staff will work out equipment staging areas and discuss other concerns before planning the work and arriving on site.

How are projects prioritized?

The County prioritizes ditch maintenance projects using a variety of factors.  Each project is ranked to determine the priority of the work, using the following criteria:

1. Potential roadway hazard
2. Potential damage due to flooding (yards, houses, roadways)
3. Size of drainage area upstream of the ditch (how many people benefit)
4. Plans for VDOT to clean out their portion
5. Last time area was serviced
6. The presence of any landowner-installed features such as bridges, fencing, and/or landscaping that would make accessing the drainage ditch difficult

Initial workload is organized around the rankings and then adjusted as each project receives rights-of-entry and the necessary easements to start work.  Logistical issues are also taken into consideration, such as time of year, amount of recent rainfall, and crop planting seasons.

Why is my project ineligible?

Some projects may not be eligible for the County program, due to one of the following situations:

• Project is only affecting one or two properties: These projects are deemed to be localized drainage problems and are the responsibility of the individual property owners.

   

• Ditch section is significantly influenced by saltwater tides: No work by the County is performed in these areas.

   

• Jurisdiction of a State or Federal agency: Work needs to be performed by the agency responsible for the area of the blockage. Typically, this involves culverts or ditches within the VDOT right-of-way. In this case, citizens will be directed to contact VDOT directly at 1-800-367-7623. 

The County may have initially determined that your potential project was eligible for further investigation, but the project may have been placed on hold due to one of the following reasons:

• Permission to walk the project was not given: One or more property owners along the ditch will not give permission for us to enter the property for evaluation.

   

• Easement not given: One or more property owners along the ditch will not consent to an easement to perform the maintenance work required to restore positive drainage.

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