Weekend storms create more work for El Paso County crews

Weekend storms dumped heavy rain in El Paso County and service requests to clear drainage ditches and culverts are still rolling in two days later.

Nicholas Lathen, a county crew leader working in Black Forest on Tuesday, said workers have twice as many requests as normal to clear drainage infrastructure of dirt, sand, and other storm debris.

“Some of it is new accumulation from the weekend but some also is a continuation of buildup in areas we haven’t reached yet for routine maintenance,” he said.

The county has four crews that are temporarily delaying regular maintenance work in order to respond to storm cleanup.

Clogged ditches and culverts can cause erosion and deposit large amounts of sediments on roads, creating a safety hazard for drivers.

Workers are using shovels, an excavator, and a high-pressure water hose to clear culverts.

County crews maintain infrastructure on public rights of way, and remind private property owners that they are responsible for keeping their own drainage systems clear.

Complicating the matter for crews is working around utility lines that are buried under drainage ditches, often only a foot or less deep.

The situation is creating issues for some property owners.

“I just got 17 tons of gravel put on my driveway a couple of months ago and a lot of that has washed away,” said Heidi Arbury, of Black Forest. “Now it’s sitting at the intersection of Highway 83 and Walden Way and I don’t have any way to pick that up.”

Matthew Dunston, another Black Forest resident, said he helped a neighbor dig her culvert clear because she couldn’t do it herself.

“You could say it was a culvert (instead of a covert) operation,” he joked. “But seriously, this is a big county and crews can’t get to everything. We have to pitch in and help out a bit.”

Lathen said there’s no time estimate for when crews will catch up on the backlog of service requests.

“I’ve never seen it rain here the way it did last weekend,” Arbury said.