Well, I'm no hydrologist but I have a couple of suggestions based on my
work with low impact development and stormwater. Feel free to ignore
what makes no sense to you:
1) Try to waterproof the outside of whatever foundation your house has.
This means you have to dig up all the dirt around it. (Not easy or
cheap.) There are special paints for exterior waterproofing. Seal all
the holes in the foundation before you do that.
2) If you can install a French drain (underground pipe perforated on
top)or under-the-surface drainage tiles and have the end pipe divert
water from your property, do so.
3) Make sure you change the landscaping so that the dirt slopes away
from your house.
4) Add whatever plants you can that thrive on tons of water for the low
spots near your house. (No, not water lilies!). Use native plants if
they will work in that type of hydrology, as they are likely to last
longer and work better. Talk to your city, county, or state garden club
or horticultural society. Many have volunteer master gardeners. Don't
plant anything with deep roots right next to the house.
5) Before you add them, mix as much compost into the soil as possible.
Compost absorbs a ton of water. You can get it from a garden center, or
your county may have it available free in the Spring if it collects
leaves at compost yards in the fall. When you mix the compost in, you
will have extra soil. That means you will have to cart away soil. If
you have a freemarket in your area, or a Craig's List, list the dirt
online. Believe it or not, people will ask for it. Or you can ask for
more dirt.
6)Talk to your University Extension service for additional suggestions,
and your Office of Attorney General for consumer information about how
not to get ripped off if you don't try to do these things yourself.
Both offer good publications, often for free.
7) If there's enough space, plant a tree with deep roots. Trees absorb
an unbelievable amount of water.
8) Make sure you check with your city, county, and watershed management
organization or district, pollution control agency or department of
natural resources to see how much of the above is legal in your area and
get the permits in advance if ones are needed.
9) Get a dehumidifier for your crawl space if you can access it. In
theory, assuming you are on a sewer system, you should be able to drain
some of the water it produces directly into a drain that leads to it, if
it's legal in your area to do so.
This may not cure your whole problem, but it can't hurt.
10) If you have a concrete walk, consider replacing it with compost and
shredded bark. The latter will not float, and the compost will absorb
water.

Good luck!

Susanne P. Spitzer, AICP
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
Municipal Division
520 Lafayette Rd. N.
St. Paul, MN 55155-4194
Tel: 651-296-7723
Fax: 651-297-2343 or 651-297-8683
susanne.spitzer@...

www.pca.state.mn.us - Working with Minnesotans to protect
conserve and improve our environment and enhance our quality of life.

"Use what talents you possess; The woods would be very silent if no
birds sang there except those that sang best." - - William Blake





-----Original Message-----
From: stormwaterpro@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:stormwaterpro@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of kalibailey11
Sent: Wednesday, March 05, 2008 2:28 PM
To: stormwaterpro@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [StormwaterPro] Photos of snow melt drainage problems


I don't think it is a rising water table, though I have heard rumors
that the common area is
on a natural spring. Here's a link to some photos of the swampy area
around my house. I
put captions on the photos explaining some of the history of the
property. When we
moved in, it was a high desert forest with Juniper and Ponderosa, then a
development
company bought it and put in 90 new homes and this grassy common area.
The flooding
got really bad after that happened. Sometimes it floods the whole
neighborhood. We get
12" of snow about 3 times a year. Plus 3" off and on all winter. When we
get 12" and it
melts suddenly, that's when it floods almost every house on the common
area, but ours
gets it the worst.

Photos http://community.webshots.com/album/562696020UyxcwP

If, after seeing the photos, you can recommend a place to start, it
would be much
appreciated.

Many thanks,
Kali Vanagas


--- In stormwaterpro@yahoogroups.com, "bjoel800" <BJoel800@...> wrote:
>
> Would you guess and say that the majority of the water is due to
> snowmelt and rainfall, not a rising water table. If it is mainly due
> to poor drainage you might need to landscape in such a way that you
> change the drainage pattern. This way the water drains away from your

> property, and not towards your foundation. If your flooding is due to

> a high water table, I am not sure what you can do.
> --- In stormwaterpro@yahoogroups.com, "Norman MacLeod" <gaelwolf@>
> wrote:
> >
> >
> > REPOSTING for group member
> >
> >
> > FROM: kalivanagas@
> > DATE: Sun, 02 Mar 2008 20:27:24 -0000
> > SUBJECT: New to group- snow melt drainage problems, help!
> >
> > For the last 13 years, my family has been battling a swampy yard and
> > water in our crawl space. We have three $500 sump pumps but that
> > doesn't fix the yard. It's so bad that the dogs don't even want to
go
> > outside. Our yard extends about 8' out from our house with two
12x15'
> > areas on either side of the house. It's a flat lot and there are
berms
> > separating the flooded common area from our property but our house
is
> > in the low spot. We have lawn, bark, aspens, and some native brush.
> > What can we do to get rid of all this water??? Thanks
> >
>





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