Drainage ditch problems in south Colorado Springs

The rain stayed away from Colorado Springs for most of Wednesday, but it returned by the afternoon.

What remains are the problems that all of the rain is causing. One of the newest trouble spots is on the south end of the city.

Alice Hill has lived in Colorado Springs for nearly 20 years.

She’s never seen weather like this.

“Every once in a while we get some rain but nothing wild like we’re having now,” she said.

The heavy rains of the last month and a half have been eating away at the bank of the drainage creek across from her house.

Yesterday it gave way.

Hannah Cornelson lives next door to Hill. She said, “the other night when we had that bad storm, I was looking through my window and I noticed that tree was much lower than it originally was.”

By the next morning, the tree was in the creek, taking several feet of bank with it.

That certainly caught the attention of county crews.

They started work on the creek next to Tanager Drive Wednesday, but the creek is one of many on the county’s radar.

“All of these Fisher Canyon creeks are in danger. There’s very little improvements in the channels to keep them stable in big storms,” said Andre Brackin, the county engineer for El Paso County.

But this creek is the biggest concern for the people who live on Tanager since it’s so close to their homes.

Cornelson said, “my house is right across the street from it so this is not safe.”

“We don’t want the kids getting hurt,” said Hill.

The county has built a fence along the creek side of Tanager Drive and is asking people to stay away from the creek bank. They’re looking for a more permanent solution to the problem.