EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – A Lower Valley family says excess dirt from a nearby canal is destabilizing their 89-year-old mother’s brick yard wall, sparking a standoff with the local water improvement district over who is responsible for the damage.
Martha Lujan says her mother has lived next to the El Paso County Water Improvement District 1 canal for decades. She said her mother only recently noticed the yard wall tilting and buckling, alleging it only happened after crews from the water district dug deeper into the canal and pushed excess dirt against their property line.
“As they dug out the canal, the excess debris and dirt was left, and it’s compressing against my mother’s wall [and] has become somewhat of like a retaining wall for them, for their purpose. But it didn’t do any service to my mom’s wall, because since then it’s cost additional corrosion, moisture, and eventually the wall is starting to lean over,” Lujan said.
Fearing the structure might collapse under the weight, Lujan said the family now prohibits her mother from using the backyard alone for her own safety…