Policy Statement

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County of Accomack, Virginia

Ditch Maintenance Policy Statement

& General Operating Guidelines

Policy: It is the policy of Accomack County to strive to maintain the proper drainage of certain outfall ditches and streams in the County that provide community-wide drainage benefits and are not the responsibility of another federal, state, or private entity. Services are not available to individual property owners.

Operating Guidelines:

1. All requests for drainage and ditch maintenance projects will be directed to Accomack County Public Works & Facilities, the entity responsible for overall delivery of drainage and ditch maintenance services.

2. Requests for drainage, ditch maintenance, and similar projects; including those received from incorporated Towns; will be received by the Storm Drainage Program Coordinator, evaluated to determine the extent of the work, and assigned a priority ranking based on the following criteria (or substantially similar criteria):

a. Potential roadway hazard

b. Potential damage due to flooding (yards, houses, roadways)

c. Size of drainage area upstream of the ditch (how many people benefit)

d. Plans for VDOT to clean out the portion under their responsibility

e. Last time the area was serviced

f. The presence of any landowner-installed features such as bridges, fencing, and/or landscaping that would make accessing the drainage ditch difficult

3. The Storm Drainage Program Coordinator will authorize work to proceed on projects based upon their priority ranking taking into account logistical issues.

4. Individual projects related to drainage and ditch maintenance shall not require separate Board of Supervisors approval.

5. All work on projects, including ancillary tasks such as permitting, shall be managed by the Storm Drainage Program Coordinator and shall be performed by qualified vendors selected in accordance with the County's procurement policy.

6. All projects will require landowners to provide the County with a no-cost temporary easement valid for a 4-year period. Projects that do not receive all necessary easements will be removed from the active project list and placed on hold until such time that the remaining easements have been received. All temporary easements shall be subject to the approval of the County Attorney and shall be recorded in the Clerk’s Office of the Circuit Court of Accomack County.

7. All appropriations for drainage and ditch maintenance projects remaining at the end of each fiscal year will carry over to the ensuing fiscal year and automatically be re-appropriated by the Board of Supervisors.

8. Payments to incorporated towns for town-managed storm drainage and ditch maintenance projects:

As authorized by Section 15.2-1202, the Accomack County Board of Supervisors may appropriate funds as it desires to an incorporated town.
To become eligible for storm drainage/ditch maintenance funds from the County, an incorporated town must submit a written request (email is acceptable), including the dollar amount and the purpose for which the request is made, to the Storm Drainage Program Coordinator (SDPC).
The SDPC will review the proposed project, the existing County drainage budget, and ongoing projects and priorities.
The SDPC may, in his discretion, approve, approve with modifications, or disapprove the proposed storm drainage/ditch maintenance project.
The SDPC will advise the town contact if the County will be able to provide funds for the proposed storm drainage/ditch maintenance project, and if so, in what amount.
If the request is approved for funding, the town will be responsible for securing the necessary landowner easements, obtaining permits from regulatory agencies, hiring contractors if needed, and completing the work.
After the project is completed, the town will notify the SDPC and allow County staff to inspect the work under the town’s easement.
If there are deficiencies in the work, the SDPC will notify the town and request that the deficiencies be corrected.
Once the project passes inspection by the SDPC, the town may submit a written invoice to the County, on town letterhead, with invoices attached for contracted work, if any. If the work is not contracted out, the SDPC shall calculate the value of labor based on County-wide averages and the value of materials based on invoices provided by the town.
Once received, the invoice will be processed by the SDPC through the regular County accounts payable process, with payment made to the town with net 45-day terms.
Any town receiving funds from the County of Accomack for storm drainage and/or ditch maintenance projects shall be responsible for certifying and accounting for the use of these funds.
The town shall be wholly responsible and solely liable for projects completed with these funds. The town shall defend and indemnify the County, its officers and employees, from and against any damages or liability arising out of the storm drainage/ditch maintenance project.
The County is not obligated to provide funds to towns for storm drainage/ditch maintenance, and such funds are subject to appropriation by the Accomack County Board of Supervisors.

Approved at the June 18th, 2025, meeting of the Accomack County Board of Supervisors.

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