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I think that would be very hard to prove. If what you say is true, I think you need to provide them with the opportunity to correct it before you take any action.
I spent $20k with my excavator four years ago. About $15 of that was a French drain around my house and a 6" PVC pipe across my neighbor's back yard to a seasonal brook. I also did some bits of French drain in her back yard as the pipe was going in. Yellow construction equipment and a crew with shovels ain't cheap.
I still have a problem with surface runoff from another neighbor that all lands in my drainage system. Some day, I will crown my gravel driveway and trench 60' of PVC to a new drain on that property line. Right now, all that water lands in the drain in front of my garage door.
I bought this house last year. What I've noticed is every time it rain more than half an inch my back yard would be temporarily flooded. I'm an engineer and my specialty is in drainage. I already know what is wrong and I have the perfect solution. But... my solution will flood out my next door neighbor LOL.
Should I impliment my solution and flood out my neighbor everytime it rains? He won't even know what hit him.
Did you come here thinking people wouldn't think you're a jackass?
Best post here. Use unpolluted water to grow plants. Hell, even if it's polluted, you can do us a service via bio-accumulation/biodegradation.
Your reply made me smile, which was much needed to wipe away the ugh feeling of unpacking.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gunslinger256
This would have been my response also. Engineers are concerned with getting rid of the water when the proper solution should be to use that water to recharge the ground water using a catchment area/rain garden to allow the water to slowly percolate back under ground.
Perhaps you could start with some deep rooted plants to open up the soil over a few years such as Rye grass. As the roots die the decomposing organic matter leaves spaces where water can drain. The organic matter will further add to the soil quality.
Channeling the water away to a storm drain does not help the environment.
I agree. All too often, what should be common sense and proper is deemed too expensive or simply a "why bother" sort of thing. (I'll stop myself here before I get on a rant about these sorts of decisions... )
Quote:
Originally Posted by tnff
Just so you know, all of those options are part of the solution that good engineers look at. Water laws are very stringent and different around the country. For example, in some areas this solution would be illegal because they water isn't yours to use, it belongs to someone further down stream. So you can't "keep" it by directing into a rain garden. That's just an example and I don't know what the water laws are where the OP lives. {snip}
I have heard of flow diversions and rain barrels being illegal in given areas due to water rights before. I've not yet heard of someone using a rain garden for such, but I suppose they could.
From my understanding (and I say this in case some folks reading this aren't as informed as you seem to be), part of why rain gardens came about was to prevent intrusion in foundations and basements, and soggy or worse yards.
They more recently have become a consideration as another method to help prevent an overabundance of storm/melt run off. This helps keep storm sewers from backing up, as well as pooling and flooding. This is particularly useful in areas with a lot of hard ground cover like streets, sidewalks, parking lots, etc. where it is much harder for the water to find a place to get into the ground instead of rushing over said surface or pooling.
I am glad to hear some folks (engineers or otherwise) are at least considering options like rain gardens in their site designs/plans.
I bought this house last year. What I've noticed is every time it rain more than half an inch my back yard would be temporarily flooded. I'm an engineer and my specialty is in drainage. I already know what is wrong and I have the perfect solution. But... my solution will flood out my next door neighbor LOL.
Should I impliment my solution and flood out my neighbor everytime it rains? He won't even know what hit him.
You have to ask? Of course not.
The fact that you think it's funny that you'd flood him out speaks volumes.
What IS funny is that you, an engineer, didn't do your homework before buying the property, while your neighbor did.
If you want to know what hell on earth is...tick off your next door neighbor. Don't think he won't figure out what you've done. He will. He will do something about it, probably.
The better course is to resolve your issue in a way that doesn't flood your neighbors. There is always a way.
What's the big deal with water in your yard, anyway?
To be fair, the reason my yard is flooded is because of runoff from his property. The plan I have drawn out for myself will prevent this. Unfortunately for him, his property is shaped like a bowl. I think whoever that designed his landscaping purposefully graded in such a way to have all the runoff directed at my property. The elderly couple who lived in my house never saw it coming. This would explain a comment the previous owner made to me. He said something like he started noticing the backyard getting considerably more water a few years back.
How about explain the plan and share the cost? I've done extensive drainage myself and know how easy it is to do just that.
So, I'm also an engineer, and trying to picture this setup in my head to figure out what the solution is.
You say his property is shaped like a bowl? and runoff from his property floods your yard. So is it an inverse bowl? The center is higher than the outer edges? If so, then how does your solution direct water back onto his property if it naturally wants to flow onto yours?
If the center is lower, then how does his propery redirect water onto yours?
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