It may not be the kind of thing that captures people’s attention, or front-page banner headlines, but Del. Keith Hodges has quietly been going about the work of a legislator, crafting bills to deal with a somewhat unglamorous, yet vitally important subject—dredging.

Anyone who lives in Gloucester and Mathews counties knows the importance of its rivers and creeks. These waterways are essential to the area’s watermen, as well as to the region’s burgeoning tourism industry. It provides employment and enjoyment to residents and visitors alike. It is a defining characteristic of the Middle Peninsula.

In the past, the Army Corps of Engineers would routinely dredge channels to keep the rivers accessible for the boaters who ply these waters. But the money that paid for this work has dried up, and the Coast Guard, in some cases, has been forced to discontinue maintenance of its channel markers and other aids to navigation in areas where there isn’t enough bottom for boats to safely navigate.

In this most recent session, Hodges introduced a package of dredging bills, seeking new and creative ways to ensure that the channels leading to the Chesapeake Bay remain cleared and passable. All five bills were approved by the General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Ralph Northam, an Eastern Shore native who also knows first-hand the importance of keeping these channels open and viable.

The legislation seeks to provide other possible funding sources for these projects, such as making them eligible for financing through the Virginia Resources Authority and allowing a local governing body to pay for dredging projects through tax-increment financing (which allows municipalities to promote economic development by earmarking property tax revenue from increases in assessed values within a designated district).

Another bill directs the Virginia Marine Resources Commission to develop a fast-track regulatory permitting process for the selection and use of appropriate sites for the disposal of dredge spoils.

The work that Hodges has done in creating these bills and shepherding them through the legislative process is hardly glamorous. But it is helping to chart a way to a vibrant future for the Chesapeake Bay communities that rely on its waterways.