My neighbor and I tried two different ways to handle our yards after the last big monsoon rain.

He went with a quick fix, just raking the sand and gravel that washed into his yard back onto the street. I decided to spend a weekend and about $300 on materials to build a small rock-lined drainage channel along the side of my house. The difference was huge. His yard flooded again after the next light rain because the water had nowhere to go but back onto his property. My little channel directed all the runoff right to the street drain. It saved my foundation from getting soaked and my lawn from turning into a mud pit. I know it was more work up front, but seeing his frustration last week made me glad I did it. Has anyone else found a good way to deal with monsoon runoff on their property?

3 comments

3 Comments

elliot60725d ago

Smart move with that drainage channel.

patricia16725d ago

Yeah, it saved my basement last spring. I used a perforated pipe wrapped in landscape fabric, buried in a gravel trench. Redirected all the runoff away from the foundation.

jade8852d ago

Wish I had your foresight. My first try was basically just digging a sad little ditch with a garden trowel, which washed away immediately. Honestly, @patricia167, your gravel trench idea sounds way smarter than my mud wrestling project. I finally caved and did something similar with rocks and a pipe, but it took me three tries to get it right.