MOOSE JAW – Renovations at Dwight Cairney’s house were agonizingly close to being finished.
“I was just hanging my last little bit of (drywall).”
That is, until nearly one foot of water rushed into his basement last week.
Cairney’s family only bought the home in Moose Jaw’s Sunningdale subdivision a few months ago.
Flood damage is pegged at as high as $20,000 and estimates for some neighbours go even higher. There are residents who have had to restore flooded basements two or three times this year, and never before 2014, which is leading some to ask whether there is a much larger issue.
“I’d like to see something from the city on this because it’s costing a lot for a lot of people,” Cairney said. “If it’s continuing, there goes my property value.”
Just across the street, Vic Bruce had storm water backup in the spring. He plans to join a group of Sunningdale homeowners looking for answers.
For now, a sump pump is the only guarantee his house stays dry.
“Ever since I installed that in early June, the pump runs approximately every 20-25 minutes,” said Bruce.
City staff say they’ve heard of the issue from a number of residents and that Moose Jaw is spending as much as $50,000 on outside consultants to try and figure it out.
The problem, the city says, is some homeowners haven’t allowed access to their property.
“We need to see the status of their system,” said Matt Noble, Moose Jaw city manager. “There could be a blockage, there could be drainage issues on the surface of the property, which we’ve already found in some cases.”
Crews are in the process of running cameras through Moose Jaw sewer lines to see if there’s any damage.
It’s possible in major rain events that storm water is running into the city’s sanitary sewer system, Noble said.
What’s puzzling is the backups seem to be isolated to one neighbourhood.
“If there’s a repair required, we’ll fix it. Guaranteed. We’re going to know on our side soon enough,” said Noble, adding the problem could be determined within 2-3 weeks.
But anxious homeowners seeking that final answer feel they’ve waited long enough already.
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