Drainage ditches - improvements

We have drainage ditches that run in front of our houses and some are in back of the houses, there is no reference in our CC&R's or By-Laws that the HOA or the County are required to maintain these. Some of the homeowners have taken it upon themselves to pipe the drainage ditches and then cover them with dirt and grass (which is how we feel they should be done), which keeps debris from collecting and blocking the ditches, and makes the area aesthetically pleasing. There are some homeowners who don't keep their ditches cleaned out and therefore the water won't flow thru from one property to the next and then out of the neighborhood.

My question is this: If the homeowners won't maintain the ditch on their own, can we have the drainage ditches piped properly and then bill the homeowners?

Thanks

A simple solution would be to contact your local water company and/or sewage or drainage district.

Don't be surprised, however, if they don't also rip out the pipes that have been laid then covered.

Drainage ditch upkeep and repair is normally something done by civil engineers with the water company. It would seem to me they would do an entire area where the problem was and not just one or two homes here and there.

Either way, it would seem to me that it should be handled by the local government agency in charge of such things.

I agree with Harold.

In our sub, we have HOA owned roads, and therefore, own the easements (along with the utility companies having rights) As in your sub, people have covered them or put their own pipes in, and the covered them. The result is a back-up when it rains, because they were not put in correctly (engineered flow)

Now the HOA has to pull up the pipes and re-dredge the ditches. Our distches flow to our canals around the sub, so we do want it to be filtered by grass, hopefully lots of it will be absorbed on the way, and by the time the water flow gets to the canals, it's in half-way decent condition.

Determine jurisdiction first. But you must have the correct flow so it does move to its destination, not a rushing stream, but at least a correct flow.

"... improvements, repairs, maintenances & replacements to the common areas or association properties set forth herein..." But are those ditches actually common areaa and/or association properties? Are they actually "set forth herein?" What do your recorded deeds indicate?