"The Rains Came Down & the Floods Came Up"

How's this for an idyllic picture? Living high up on a mountain, lovely scenery, and a double rainbow, right out your window!

 That's Mountain Mama Jessica's back yard in Santaquin, Utah. They live as high up as you can go on Dry Mountain. (An ironic name. Read on.)

There is no access to water beyond their yard. None. No homes were supposed to be built higher up the mountain as a result.

Well, a builder got around that requirement despite protests, took heavy machinery up behind Jessica's home, removed the vegetation that prevented erosion, and leveled the ground in preparation for building some homes up there. No mitigation was put in place to keep any snowmelt, rainwater, and dirt from coming down.

Utah has had heavy snowmelt this year and then an incredibly rainy summer. So, with nothing left to hold that water from coming down the mountain, guess what happened?

Jessie's retaining wall's structural soundness is now compromised, her yard is flooding, and there is mud, sand, and debris where there was once a lawn.

Andrew hiked up behind their home to document the damage and the builder's lack of mitigation. That's their yard below; as you can see, nothing has been put in place to hold back water and dirt - which is breaking building regulations big time.

The water is also pouring down the street and through her neighborhood. She's lucky; her basement hasn't flooded yet, but her neighbor's basement is full of muddy rainwater.

The builder has hung up on phone calls, but the Santaquin City Engineer has come out, assessed the problem, and then sandbagged the homes. The builder claims it is an act of God, but since he did not take steps (that he was legally required to) to prevent something like this from happening, he is responsible for the damage.

It's a mess, figuratively as well as literally. Jessica and her neighbors have some headaches ahead of them as they battle this builder for the damage he has caused their homes and streets. The City Engineer has viewed and documented the damage so that will be a big help to them as they fight for the damage to be repaired.

What a mess. I feel for them all.