Well, that didn't last long.

The city has ditched its plan to revamp its stormwater system, and the new fee schedule that would have gone with it. Each of them made sense -- the city's stormwater system needs work, and the fee schedule would have shifted charges to a more user-fee approach: The more impermeable surface on a property, the more the owner would pay.

The plan would have charged less to those property owners who took environmentally responsible steps to reduce stormwater runoff -- such as putting in retention basins or rain gardens.

The financial incentive to take such steps might have disappeared, but the need has not. Water quality remains an important issue from Central Virginia to the Chesapeake Bay. Although the city has missed a chance to lead, local residents and businesses can still do their part -- and should.