THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, February 10, 1997 TAG: 9702100050
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MEREDITH COHN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: 76 lines
In Chesapeake, the saying about death and taxes being life's only certainties has an addendum: flooding.
The high water table, periodic heavy rain and continuing development make it difficult for city stormwater managers to prevent water from puddling up and flowing through neighborhoods.
The city has a system of 450 miles of roadside ditches, 870 miles of storm sewers and 275 miles of culverts designed to steer rainwater into creeks and eventually the Chesapeake Bay, but complaints continue to pour in.
Some residents want ditches dug in their front yards. Others want underground pipes. Some simply prefer to let nature carve its own way through their property.
What makes matters worse, said City Engineer Ray Stout, neighbors on the same street often want different actions from the city.
The most recent projects - a 15-foot-wide ditch along Shillelagh Road in Deep Creek and a narrow ditch in front of two Phyllis Drive houses in the Indian River area - were both responses to ongoing complaints about flooding. The decisions to dig through residents' front yards, and through one house on Shillelagh Road, were embraced by some but drew criticisms from others who didn't want their lawnstorn up and worried that the ditch wouldn't solve the problem.
On Phyllis Drive, Drusilla Mayo wanted the flooding problem addressed but did not want an open ditch in her carefully manicured front yard.
``We're retired, and we garden as a hobby,'' said Mayo. ``I told them if they were going to cut my trees down I would tie myself to them. I guess I made enough of a stink that they left them alone, but they spent a lot of money on a ditch that they can't say will solve the problem.''
Before the ditch was dug, she said, water would run through her yard and around the back of her house, where it went into a creek.
``I knew where every drop of water ran across my property, and Mother Nature was handling it,'' said Mayo, who has lived in the same house for 20 years. Now, she fears the shallow ditch will funnel much of the water from her street to a pool in her yard.
Nothing short of underground piping with drainage holes will solve the problem, she believes - but the city says that is too pricey. ``Now, they are just going to have to come back in the spring and replace my special grass at the taxpayers' expense.''
Standing water can be seen after a gentle rain in driveways along the street, but Stout said that after a heavy rain the new swale should work with existing ones at the top of Phyllis Drive to alleviate excessive flooding.
``Obviously, we can't please everybody,'' he said. ``Mrs. Mayo has been caring for this part of her lawn for years, but it's city property, and we have to do what we think is best for the community.''
There had been no clear and consistent policy on stormwater management in the city until recently, Stout said, leaving problems to be addressed as they came in. But a move is afoot to switch to a more ``proactive rather than reactive program,'' he said.
Normally, when a complaint comes in, city surveyors and engineers study the flooding to determine the best method of curbing the problem - usually by digging a ditch in the city land near the road. If property is threatened, the project moves up on the city's priority list. All others are dealt with as time and money permit.
The city is in the beginning stages of developing a map of the problems and a maintenance schedule. In the next couple of years, crews routinely will clear existing ditches of leaves and sediment that could be contributing to flooding. And while complaints will still drive the ditch-digging efforts for now, area supervisors expect to outline water problems and plan regional solutions.
Joe Wren, a new stormwater superintendent, has been named to head the project, and eventually 40 employees will work for the operation. Crews have already begun cleaning ditches from neighborhood to neighborhood in Western Branch. Department officials are encouraging residents not to dump waste in the ditches because it not only causes flooding, but pollutes water running unfiltered into the Chesapeake Bay, Stout said. MEMO: Residents with service requests and complaints can call Sharon
Coffey in the Stormwater Management Division at 382-6312.