Editor, Gazette-Journal:

In April 2013, (then) VDOT resident engineer Sean Trapani proposed the Mathews Board of Supervisors form a partnership with VDOT “to develop a drainage study of the entire county, one section at a time, and to also develop a recommended plan of action.” The board expected the initial study would “consist of everything south of Route 608, Port Haywood” and would take a year, including any required work. As a result, VDOT held back on all but the most urgent ditch work.

Two years later, VDOT is maintaining that policy, and on May 18, we got a report on a Rural Ditch Enhancement study that looked at four isolated roadside and outfall locations. No work is in process, and none is scheduled yet.

What is in progress is a grant-funded Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission effort to determine “ownership of the ditches” as a preliminary step to setting up a stormwater management authority. Such authorities assess charges to...