Bought a house about 2 months ago and when there is heavy rain, I got this river in my backyard that goes into a stormwater drain just outside my property line. I still get it on normal rain but its not anywhere near this bad. The neighbor to the right in this video has some issue but not as bad. A few of their downspouts go underground and terminate near his property line.
They are going to get some work done on their property with a better swale, french drains, etc..
I talked to the person who will be doing their work and said they could continue the french drain all the way down to near the stormwater drain. He said it probably won't help much with the river but it will help dry out the grass so it doesn't stay wet and nasty. He would also make some swale adjustments as well.
Does this sound like the correct proposal? Ideally I would not want this river at all but I'm not sure if that is possible. Thoughts?
by Beastmobile
50 Comments
Here is a picture of my neighbors lawn where their downspout connection come out. This pic was taken on a day where the rain was not as heavy:
[https://imgur.com/a/fbMDRjG](https://imgur.com/a/fbMDRjG)
Honestly not terrible and at it’s far enough from your house but yes a french drain would be good to slow it down to prevent erosion.
The river is just it working like it should. The contractor is correct. The drain may not solve the river issue but will help it dry out much faster.
New build?
Thats the watershed. Let it shed.
I guess my question would be what bothers you about what is happening? Excess water leaving the property would be what most people would want to have happen. Most people install french drains when the water is sitting on the property or flowing to an incorrect location.
If just seeing the water temporarily is what bothers you then the contractor is right.
He’s likely concerned about setting expectations since the rain needs to go somewhere.
Let your water shed, shed water. Throw down some river rock and make it a feature!
I kinda like it.
Build a nice dry creek bed or let it be. Looks like minimal erosion.
Your back yard is in a seasonal riverbed. Exciting planting opportunities. Or you could LARP as an industrial, municipal zone and pipe it all underground.
You’ll never be able to pipe this water underground to the storm drain- that would take approval from the town / county, likely having to put a pipe through Neighbors yards, etc. just not feasible unless you want to spend endless time and money.
So, then let’s talk options for doing something on your own property. You could either do a French drain or a drywell- both of which let water infiltrate underground on your property into underground storage before slowly percolating into the soil. To me- holding a LOT more water underground on your property is a negative. The water is currently running through your property and out- a drywell or French drain would turn your property into a sponge.
If I was you I would leave it alone.
If you really want to do something about it- create a dry creek bed with either river rock or rip rap stone. Dig down a little extra depth and fill with 3/4” crushed stone. The advantage will be you don’t have a wet patch of lawn, but that area will now be rock, so still not useable as a lawn.. IMO anything you do will be money not well spent.
Whoever said regrade to pitch water out towards the fence is very wrong. That seems A. Infeasible and B. Like a lawsuit waiting to happen if you managed to do it
Edit: typos
It looks like it is doing what it was designed to do, transport water from one point to another. Any re-engineering could have negative impact on its effectiveness like causing greater build up of water upstream or in your yard.
That swale looks fine. Honestly good work on who created it
Its engineered to do this, are you upset it’s working? Would you rather it flow into your basement or just sit there pooled in your yard?
Where are you located? In my area river oats are native – Chasmanthium latifolium – which have super tough roots that can help slow the flow and percolate the water down into the soil. Same with elderberry – for me that’s Sambucus nigra but there are a few different species.
If you plant this spot like the ephemeral creek it wants to be, you may not need to do any creek bed/rock/hardscape/drainage work at all.
Grab your skimboard!
Better than near the house
Personally, I’d plant something like willow on the edges. You dont have to mow it and the roots will protect your land from erosion.
I’d also double check that the drain is actually clear and draining fully.
Look how the land lays, especially with that other picture of how it flows under the fence into your neighbor’s yard.
That’s been an intermittent stream for thousands of years, do what you want, the water is always going to go that way. Ideally make it a feature by putting in some rocks, even widen it out and have a step for a fall when it rains, put some attractive plants alongside it. That’s ‘using’ the space.
Might want to rethink having the fence going directly across it, if it really really rains after the ground has been soaked in these 100 year events we get all the time now, something chunky will come flowing down the hill and take it out, or cover it in flotsam, or erode it’s post – either way it’s going to cost more than just removing that section. It would be interesting to see how the land looked before the developer just decided it wasn’t going to be a thing anymore and ‘managed’ it into looking how they thought would sell for more.
Get a boogie board
I’d landscape to work with it because fighting it will be just that, a fight.
Can you see the *source* of all this water? For example, is it flowing in from an adjacent property? Or, is all of this generated from your property from downspouts and stuff? I imagine you could pipe all of this, assuming your have a legit place to daylight the pipe, or tie into the downstream storm drain. If its flowing in from an adjacent property, I suspect you could install a yard drain to catch this, then pipe it down the same route as the swale. If its from your downspouts, you could for sure pipe everything together. Personally, I think a french drain treats the symptom, not the problem in this case.
See if you can have the county stock it with trout
Put a retaining wall in the middle of it
Dig & concrete out a water channel for it, grate over it, plop a turbine in there to run to a battery, and FREE ELECTRICITY during rainstorms!
Id lean into it, buy some river rock and make a creek
Come swale away come swale away
If it’s working, I wouldn’t mess with it. You do not want a swale if you can help it, or have a very specific reason for having one. They are harder to maintain. In heavy downpours, rocks can get moved and you have to relocate them again. Weeds grow and you have to regularly remove them. Rocks can eventually get in your grass which is a pain for mowing. Etc etc.
That working properly as is is about as good as you’re gonna get it. You can mow it to maintain it, and the grass prevents erosion. And you can use it when it’s dry. Best of everything.
Get some toy boats and go nuts.
French drain isn’t going to do shit, this is a small river. It will help dry out but not by much, and you will dump a lot of money into it and not be happy with the results.
What other people said, lean into it and make a small rock creek and put a cute bridge over it or something.
Ok now pics of you playing in said water bc 😂😃🤣
I would hesitate to mess with it. If you end up putting in too small of a drain or pipe or whatever you could end up with water flooding sections of your yard instead of draining like this
Looks like an amazing place for a water garden to me!
Time to build yourself a babbling Creek.
You keep saying French drain but that’s not what you need lmao. Those aren’t for surface water. It’ll do nothing for you here.
You need a trench drain. Stop talking about French drains 😂
Swale would be your cheapest adjustment to make.
Still it’ll be more trouble than it’s worth imo.
Just buy medium sized river rock (1 ton used here), landscape fabric, and that’s it.
[creek in yard](https://www.reddit.com/r/landscaping/s/T7PubSuX0N)
My backyard does the same. I sympathize. Need to figure out a solution myself.
Bring in 24” or 30” diameter galvanized storm drain pipes and properly place them along that streamflow pattern and cover them with soil. Sod or reseed the top and now you got more usable yard and no more water. Can’t tell the actual size needed but the existing berm on the swale should give you an indication on size.
Nah homie, it’s the rain is doing that.
I see your replies about not wanting it visible and wanting it to dry faster.
You will need to install drain with large pipe at the one end where it is higher and bury it. The pipe should follow the natural downward slope and terminate at the storm water drain. It needs to be large enough to accommodate the water flow that is visible.
You can calculate water flow by measuring the depth along a cross section of the flow. Then measure the velocity by calculating the time it takes for a piece of debris (leaf or something light) to move that distance.
French drain won’t help here. By moving most of that underground in a pipe it should dry faster. But just know it needs to be appropriately sized otherwise waste of money and will still be an issue. Smooth pipe
My yard was the exact same. Year by year the grass struggled a bit more and more till it was mostly gone with soil eroding by yr 5. I put a dry creek bed in with a mix of.river rock and it looks great. Downsides are cost and you lose a bit of usable yard tho. This is your only option that I know of.
Looks like your drainage easement is doing its job.
I’m betting there is an easement there. You might want to check before make any changes.
Gravity at work, let it. It will save your foundation.
This is likely by design. You’ll probably see a drainage easement on the survey you had performed when you bought the place.
It’s doing its job by moving water off your land. Leave it be.
Your property value just went up. River front property!
Just came to say that this absolutely needs to become a landscaped creek. That is the best option for your property, your wallet, and the surrounding environment. Plus it will be absolutely beautiful!
Yeah I get that it’s concerning but as long as the water is moving you are good.
Don’t put that water underground. It needs to do that. When people put their downspouts underground it usually dumps out into an actual creek or into the storm sewer system making the whole system more flash floody. Plant some plants with deep roots and enjoy it. Be grateful your house omits above the waterline.
I wish our yard was graded so thoughtfully 🙁