Tag:waterway=ditch
 waterway = ditch
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| Description |
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A small artificial drainage waterway, usually unlined. 
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| Rendering in OSM Carto |
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| Group: waterways |
| Used on these elements |
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| Useful combination |
| See also |
| Status: de facto |
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Use waterway=ditch for simple narrow artificial waterways, mapped as way, used to drain nearby land, to remove storm-water or similar. Ditches are usually straight (as opposed to natural streams). Unlike a drain, they are not lined with concrete or other hard materials. They are often found along roads or on the edges of agricultural fields.
They may contain little water or even be dry most of the year – to mark this intermittent=yes may be used.
For artificial drainage waterways lined with concrete or similar, see waterway=drain. For large artificial waterways used for navigation or for transporting useful water, see waterway=canal.
How to map
- See also: Waterways
Draw a way 
in the flow direction of the water and add the waterway=ditch.
The waterway should always be connected to the next waterway. Sometimes the ditch flows through a pipe into the next waterway. Then use tunnel=culvert and layer=-1.
Additional tags
name=*to specify the name of the waterway, if it has one.width=*to indicate the width of the ditch.depth=*intermittent=yesto indicate that a ditch does not have a permanent flow.seasonal=yesfor sections that do not carry water seasonallytunnel=culvertandlayer=-1if the ditch flows under a road, railroad, trail, or similar feature.
Water area 
Ditches that are wider should be drawn with natural=water + water=ditch as an area (in addition to the main stream waterway=ditch) so that they are rendered cleanly.
As a relation
waterway=ditch can be used on Relation:waterway. This relation connects many parts of the ditch into a whole.
Similar tags
waterway=drain: for larger artificial free-flow waterways used for the drainage of superfluous water like storm water or industrial discharge, and typically lined with concrete, stones or similarbarrier=ditch: for dry ditches used to prevent access to the other sidewaterway=stream: for natural minor waterways- Can be tagged with
channelised=yesin sections that are flanked by artificial banks
- Can be tagged with
waterway=canal: for artificial waterways created for carrying useful water or for transportnatural=gully: natural cutting formed by a small streamnatural=earth_bank
