From the city engineer standpoint, what level of concern might exist for the water table rising significantly, leading to flooding basements? Should our residents be concerned about this?

Vineyard City requires land drains for homes with a basement unless the developer shows that the historical water table is below the basements based on professional engineers' testing of the soils and the state's reports. Additionally, the building code requires that the soil around the home is graded away from the home prior to issuing the Certificate of Occupancy. 


However, grading from landscaping by the homeowner may change the direction of water flow. Once water is directed towards a basement’s areas and openings, water always takes the "route of least resistance". The City Building Official requires that basement openings are constructed with proper drainage systems to allow water to escape before building up into the opening. If these systems were not placed, which may occur if the work was done without a building permit, or clogged (as they require maintenance like any other part of a house), then water would not have an alternate route to take away from the home.  


Concerned residents may call Vineyard City at 801-226-1929 and either the Building Official or Public Works Engineer would be happy to address individual concerns and specific questions.

Show All Answers

1. Is Vineyard in a floodplain?
2. Will the groundwater table rise and flood homes close to the lake?
3. Can you explain groundwater levels and what that means for wells and basements?
4. Should residents close to the lake be concerned with water tables rising with historic snowpack levels? The lake levels are low, but do we see this being an issue?
5. What systems are in place that help with flood potential? How do detention ponds, land drains, underground channels, etc. mitigate flood potential?
6. Does Vineyard have sandbags available to residents?
7. From the city engineer standpoint, what level of concern might exist for the water table rising significantly, leading to flooding basements? Should our residents be concerned about this?
8. Is our ground water table generally low? Will it make a difference for people closer to the lake than those further from it?
9. How will those with septic tanks be affected by potential flooding?
10. Will we experience cracks or aging due to poorly maintained pipes being inundated with rising water?
11. How has the City staff prepared for potential flooding impacts?
12. Will our pavement suffer?
13. Will trees suffer as the soil becomes soupier, starving their roots of oxygen?
14. Is there anything Vineyard residents should know about ASRs?