It’s been a soggy spring for some West Kelowna residents.
Several neighbours in Vinyard Estates have noticed a steady trickle of water seeping through the hillside behind their yards.
Jan and Bruce Ward have a drainage system and a sump pump to deal with the usual spring moisture, but this year, they just can’t keep up.
“We’ve never seen the water flowing – you can see the flow. It’s almost like a stream running down and we’ve never seen that before,” homeowner Bruce Ward said.
The slope behind their home is saturated and unstable. A portion of it has already given way.
“You can see it right here, it’s caved down, you can see how it’s caved right down right against the fence here,” Ward said.
Just down the street the Ward’s neighbour is also dealing with ground water seepage.
Dan Friedenberg says the slope wasn’t prone to seepage when he built his home 14 years ago.
“In 2003 we had a big hoe in here and we dug this whole bank out and there was zero water,” Friedenberg said. “It was dry as toast. Then when the services got blasted in up on top because it’s all rock they blasted in the services and since then we have water.”
Friedenberg says he can’t say for sure what started the water flowing, but he’s also spent a lot of time and money installing drains and reinforcing the hillside with wire mesh.
“It’s just frustrating, is what it is,” Friedenberg said.
The neighbours have agreed to band together and go to the city to see if there is anything that can be done before the situation gets worse.