Maintain Your Creek

Know Your Property Lines
Creeks flow through many communities in Richmond. It is important to know where your property line falls if your property is adjacent to a creek. Because natural streams move over time, they are not used to establish property lines. Your property might contain one or both banks, depending on how the parcel was recorded.

Why Creek Maintenance Is Important
Through proper care of your creek, its creek banks, and creek-side vegetation, you will enhance your property, prevent erosion and flooding, preserve water quality, and enhance fish and wildlife habitat.

Proper Creek Maintenance
If your property has a creek or a waterway flowing through it, it is your responsibility to maintain it. Proper creek care includes: 

• Keeping banks vegetated to prevent erosion
• Preventing pollutants from entering waterways
• Removing blockages that may cause flooding
• Removing trash to help maintain a healthy watershed

As a property owner, you are responsible for any damages to waterways that result from neglect or unpermitted activities. You are also responsible for the actions of your gardeners, landscapers, maintenance workers, and contractors.

It illegal to block drainages and to cause discharges of pollutants to the storm drain system including our creeks and
waterways.

View creek maintenance do's and dont's

Which Drawing Below Illustrates Proper Creek Maintenance? a) b)
View the Creek Maintenance Guidelines to find out the answer, and to get more detailed information about how to maintain the creek on your property.