Residents tell Navajo County supervisors ditch work caused erosion; board pledges follow-up

During the board’s call to the public, two residents described erosion and property damage they say followed recent county ditch and culvert work and asked the board to allow homeowners to restore ornamental rock and gravel removed during that work.

Boyd said ornamental rock previously protected his property and asked the county to permit homeowners to replace decorative rock and gravel at their own expense in areas affected by recent work. He said the county operator’s effort had not solved flooding and, in his view, had produced unintended erosion along a subdivision shoulder where there is no pavement shoulder.

Steve Bennett, a resident of Buckskin Court in Linden Trails, presented photos he said show damage from culvert/ditch cleaning. He said that before the county work there was no erosion at his residence, that the ditch now causes erosion that fills a neighbor’s culvert, and that he had to build a ramp to avoid a delivery-vehicle hazard. He asked the board to schedule further dialogue or add the issue as an agenda item so the county and residents could explore remedies.

A supervisor representing the district responded that the board would continue the topic by arranging a study session, adding an agenda item, or meeting with public works and the homeowners association to identify possible fixes. No formal remediation plan or timeline was announced during the meeting.

The flood control district portion of the meeting also included mention of a long-running box culvert project on Full House Lane that a supervisor said began under former Supervisor Dave Kenny and is nearing completion; a change order related to closing that project was described as consistent with project needs.

The board did not provide an immediate operational response during the call to the public but recorded a direction to staff to pursue follow-up discussions.