Imagine finding out one day, out of the blue, that VDOT had decided to stop maintaining the street in your neighborhood. They still planned to keep the main roads up and running, but they would no longer fix potholes or resolve drainage issues, leaving it to eventually decay from neglect.

You wouldn’t stand for it, would you?

That’s a similar situation to the one faced by boaters on Queens Creek, when the U.S. Coast Guard had announced late last year that it was doing away with aids to navigation in the Mathews County creek.

Fortunately, thanks to pressure from residents and some help from Rob Wittman, the county’s representative in Congress, that situation has been resolved, at least for now. The Coast Guard reversed course and will again maintain the navigational aids that boaters need to make their way through the channel.

But Queens Creek is just a symptom of a larger issue that faces boat owners who rely on the many small creeks and inlets that surround Glouc...