The irrigation ditch operated by the Billings Bench Water Association had just been filled for the season when operators got an alert on Monday that it might be leaking water.Â
Last summer above a neighborhood north of downtown Billings, BBWA crews covered the concrete that forms the ditch there with a special liner to help reduce water seepage.Â
The liner work followed complaints from homeowners along Vuecrest Drive in the neighborhood under the ditch that they were seeing alarming amounts of water draining from the ground under the ditch. In a few cases homes had moved noticeably toward the street. One family had to abandon their home completely.
People are also reading…
That summer, the ditch company paid for an investigation, which found dry dirt as far 14 feet below the ditch bed and that the ditch itself appeared to be safe. As an added measure of caution, the BBWA installed the new liner.Â
Homeowners in the neighborhood have since brought a lawsuit against the ditch company.Â
Last month, the BBWA turned the water on for the season and once the water started to flow a drain sensor near the Vuecrest Drive stretch of the ditch detected a possible leak. So the ditch company turned the water back off on Monday to investigate.Â
Workers examined the new liner in the ditch and discovered that two of the sections weren't connected like they should have been. Crews repaired the problem sections and the BBWA will now turn the water back on this weekend, said Gary Davis, president of BBWA board.Â
Davis noted that they won't know for sure that the two sections of the new liner were causing the seepage.
"We'll know when we turn (the ditch) back on," he said.Â