Flood Irrigation and Your Home

Water from the canal system is delivered through underground pipes and released into yards through valves or gates on a schedule. Each yard is surrounded by low berms that hold the water for a few hours while it soaks in. Neighborhoods often share a schedule, and an irrigation contact or association coordinates with SRP irrigation service. When everything is in good shape, the water stays on the lawn and away from the house.

Berms settle and erode over the years. Gophers dig holes that become channels. New patios, pavers and planters change the grading. A gate or valve left open too long overfills the yard. When any of these happen, water can flow toward the garage door, across a patio slab or along the base of a block or stucco wall.

Water at the base of a wall wicks into block and stucco and can reach drywall, baseboards and flooring inside. In a garage, it soaks stored boxes and the wall shared with the house. Repeated soaking leaves white mineral stains on stucco and can damage weep screeds, the metal edge at the bottom of stucco walls.

Water under the garage door on irrigation days, dark or white stains at the base of outside walls, damp baseboards on the yard side of the house, musty storage in the garage and low spots or holes in berms are all signs that irrigation water is getting too close.

Rebuild low or eroded berms, fill gopher holes, grade the soil so it slopes away from walls, keep a gap between soil and stucco weep screeds, seal garage door thresholds and avoid planting beds that hold water against the house. Most of these are weekend projects or a landscaper's day.

Walk the yard during the first few irrigations each season. Watch where the water goes and how long it takes to soak in. Close the gate on time. If you will be away, ask a neighbor or the irrigation contact to keep an eye on it.

Close the gate, move stored items, sweep water away from doors and photograph where it entered. Call for drying; see flood irrigation water damage. Treat irrigation water as dirty water, since it carries soil and debris.

Water that flows across the ground from outside is often treated as surface water and excluded from homeowner policies. A broken irrigation pipe may be treated differently. Ask your agent before you need to.

In some neighborhoods water passes between lots. If a neighbor's water reached your home, share photos calmly and agree on berm repairs. The irrigation contact can help with schedules.

Flood irrigation in central Phoenix goes back to the canal systems that made farming possible in the Salt River Valley. As farms gave way to neighborhoods, many lots kept their irrigation rights, which is why parts of North Central Phoenix still have lush lawns, shade trees and citrus that would struggle on drip lines alone. Neighbors often value it highly, and the schedule becomes part of life in the neighborhood.

Many homes here have been remodeled or expanded. New patios, pool decks, driveways and planters change the way water moves across a lot. After any outdoor project, watch the next irrigation closely to see whether water now reaches the house. A small change in slope near a wall can be enough to send water against the stucco.

Garages are often the first place irrigation water shows up. Keep boxes, furniture and paper off the floor on shelves or pallets, especially near the door and the wall shared with the house. A rubber threshold seal under the garage door helps keep shallow water out.

Irrigation water in your garage or house right now? Close the gate and call (602) 878-3892 for a local provider who can start drying the same day.

Watch where the water goes on irrigation days.

Landscapers who work in irrigated neighborhoods can rebuild berms and regrade lots.

Walk the yard.

Flood irrigation is a North Central Phoenix tradition worth keeping. Keep berms tight, grade away from walls, watch the first few runs each season and dry quickly if water ever gets in.

Questions about flood irrigation and your home? Call (602) 878-3892 to reach a local North Central Phoenix provider, 24 hours a day.