May 20, 2011 - Water comes to Genola

As soon as the backhoe began driving across the neighbor's rain soaked yard, it began to slide

into the old wash.  It took some skill to get out of there!

This video starts out sideways showing a sideways view of the water in the canal itself, then turns upright as the canal is breached.

  I was pretty shocked that someone would come onto

private property and empty water onto their land.  The neighbors were not at home, and it took another neighbor finding the phone number where Vonna worked, and calling here there to let her know what was going on.  The company who breached the canal never did inform the owners of the land. 

 This is the view of the water rushing from the canal, into the old wash.  I simply could not believe the amount of water that as coming.  I assumed that once the canal had emptied, the flow would stop.  I was wrong.  The flow of water has not once stopped or slowed. 

 In a matter of an hou, this is how full this wash was.  Keep in mind, we are talking about an 8 to 10 foot drop to the bottom.  That is a LOT of water. 

 No plan was made for the water, once it was emptied into the wash, and a trench was dug toward the road.  One kind nieghbor,  Mike Fowers, seeing that the water may very well reach the road and go around the berm, brought two loads of dirt to use as another berm.  Following that, some of Dale Davenport's grown boys brought up sandbags as well. 

Signs were put up, declaring this as a flood area.  I guess if flooding means "water purpously diverted to end up on your neighbor's property" then it is now a flood area. 

The canal was breached just after 2:00 pm.  By evening 7:00 pm) the water had completely filled the wash, and was now heading toward the road. 

  As the water headed toward the road, we began to see a disturbing sight.  Water was going down into the ground in a "toilet bowl effect".  We were repeatedly assured it as just filling in all the nooks and crannies in the part of the wash we had filled. 

After breaching the canal, this large track hoe was bought in (again before our neighbor was informed) and used to dig a very large trench from the old wash to the road.  It used the dirt to create a berm, in case the water got too high. 

 Just a shot of the track hoe, showing just how large it really was. 

When Chris, our neighbor got home to find part of his yard full of water, and another part of his yard ripped apart, he was "not sure who to be angry at".  Possibly, the breaching of he canal had saved his home from flooding.  The problem now is - will the breaching of the canal still end up with the same result.  Once the waters begin to run full force, will his home still flood?