April 24, 2018 7:57 pm

Thousands of litres of water gush through Killiney Beach driveway every minute

A Killiney Beach resident is struggling with a culvert that empties onto her property.

Jim Douglas / Global News
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A Killiney Beach resident is desperate for help with water running through her property.

“I don’t know what to do. I don’t. I can’t be responsible for all the water. I can’t,” Tammy Woods said.

“Nobody will help me. I’m just trying to protect my house.”

Woods estimates there are 26,000 litres of water running through her driveway every minute.

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She jerry-rigged a culvert system, digging a network of trenches, but it’s not enough.

A four inch pipe blew out of its pail and water started spraying everywhere, Woods said.

The homeowner said she’s also worried about the impact the water is having on her downhill neighbours.

“I don’t know what to do. I’m going to need an industrial-sized culvert system, but then it’s not going to fix what’s below,” she said.

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Woods said three runoff streams across the road end in a culvert that empties onto her property.

“There was never a drop out of that culvert apparently for 40 years,” she said. “Three years ago, it started to dribble.”

“The water has nowhere to go except into [the] culvert, which dumps into the middle of my property.”

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Wayne Carson, Central Okanagan West’s regional director, said it doesn’t seem right for a culvert to empty onto private property.

There’s a new culvert down the road that was installed after a mudslide last year, but it’s running dry, he said.

“Obviously development upslope has got to be affecting where the water flows,” he said.

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Woods said about 10 cm of water filled her garage last night, and she’s worried it will get worse with warmer weather.

“The water is going to double, and I won’t be able to control it. It’s going to flood my house,” she said.

The Ministry of Transportation said it is investigating the situation and will determine next steps once more information is known.

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