TEMPLE, Texas — Temple resident, Olin Christian, says he's tired of his backyard and pasture flooding after it rains — but it’s not the rain he has an issue with.
He says runoff from a nearby subdivision damaged his property, home and flooded his shop.
"We need a long term plan to where the water doesn’t flow this way, it flows the way it supposed to flow," he said on Wednesday.
Olin says the overflow is coming from a Mesa Ridge subdivision detention pond.
By definition, a detention pond is designed to temporarily hold drainage water then release it over time.
The engineering firm over the Mesa Ridge project said their drainage meets city standards and is draining as designed.
I met Olin at the detention pond just after the constant rains we had in late-January.
“This is not holding water and then it flows out that end which is directly to my property and the neighbors property," Olin said.
Monday, he finally got some answers.
"We had a meeting with another property owner, the city engineer, Mesa Ridge engineer and the city councilman and they’ve kinda come up with a kinda simple plan, a swale," he said.
That swale is designed to help keep drainage water flowing and not puddle or pond up on his property but Olin said it's just a band-aid for this problem.
A problem that’s cost him upwards of a thousand dollars in property repairs and another potential four-to-five thousand to re-level his home.
In an email to Olin in late January, the engineering firm said:
“To try to address your concerns, we reduced the outlet on the pond significantly back in May to further reduce the flow leaving the pond in smaller rain events. From looking at the videos/pictures and being out there onsite, I think that your property has an issue with standing water due to it being so flat."
In response, Olin said:
"We've been here forty plus years and we’ve never had water just flow this way and stand in the field. It’s gotten worse since the subdivision has been there.”
25 News asked for an interview with the City of Temple Engineer over this project but was told they were not available.
The city gave the below statement,
"Dewberry Lane receives water runoff from two sources within the Mesa Ridge subdivision. In response to concerns from the downstream properties, the developer has done additional work at one of the runoff points, and the City is facilitating a meeting with all involved properties to discuss the other runoff point and additional potential work. We defer any specific design questions about Mesa Ridge’s drainage to the design firm, Yalgo Engineering, who may be able to provide more detailed information on their contributions and strategies. We look forward to working with all parties to come to an expedient and agreeable solution."
25 News will provide updates on this story should they become available.
