OWNA Charleston

Ditches – The Unsung Heroes of our Neighborhood (Why We Need to Care for Them)

One of the precautions we need to take involves keeping the ditches and Stormwater drains in front of our homes clear of debris (especially during hurricane season! Checking clogged drains and ditches is an ongoing, non-stop concern, but one that bears repeating.

Storm Water ditches have a critical purpose for our neighborhood. They must be cared for so that they perform their intended duty at the most critical of time. 

“When I first moved into Old Windermere, I didn’t understand this. My Yard Maintenance person told me that everyone just puts their leaves in them. Not knowing any better, I thought he knew what he was talking about. It wasn’t long before we had a big storm and I realized the ignorance of this approach.”

-Ron Sassard 

Our ditches must be maintained so they are free of leaves, branches, trash, and other debris. Otherwise, they will not function at the most critical time causing flooding along with damage to property. Since we never know when the next storm will come, we must be diligent in keeping the ditches cleaned out. 

“The Right of Way” (ROW) is technically city property, but as home owners we are responsible for the maintenance of the area between the sidewalk and the road. In a sense, we are able use the ROW as if it were personal property (including maintaining it) knowing that if the city or a utility needs to gain access to this area, they have all rights to do so.

The City will clean and regrade the ditches about every 2 years but the ongoing maintenance falls on each of us. In fact, the City recently spent a lot of effort to restore the drainage along Wesley to improve Stormwater drainage for Stocker and property adjacent to Wesley/Folly. The City is also spending ~$10 million to improve drainage in our neighborhood. But none of this will make a difference if we don’t take ownership of the Stormwater system within our neighborhood. 

Some Do’s and Don’ts regarding ditches and surface grates:

• Don’t place trash/yard debris on top of or near drains.
• Do take ownership of the strip of property between your yard and the street. 
• Do keep this strip maintained and free of leaves and other debris.
• Don’t fill in the ditches to improve parking.
• Do check the ditches/drains during storms to make sure the flow is not impeded.
• Drains can be cleared quickly with a garden rake, same with ditches.