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Ellensburg resident describes basement flooding after Jan. 13 water‑main rupture, urges infrastructure inventory
Summary
At public comment, Lauren Johnson described a Jan. 13 water‑main rupture that released large volumes of city water and flooded her basement and three neighboring homes, urged the city to inventory and repair aging infrastructure and warned future incidents will cost more if not addressed.
During the public‑comment portion of the March 2 meeting, Lauren Johnson of Ellensburg told council about a water‑main rupture in the alley behind her house at roughly 2 a.m. on Jan. 13, 2026. Johnson said about 250,000 gallons of city water flooded her basement and three neighboring homes, submerged belongings and destroyed years of academic archives she could not replace.
Johnson praised the police officer who noticed the surge of water early that morning and public works and gas crews who responded and stopped the leak by about 7 a.m. She said the city’s posted mitigations were not helpful in her case and that local contractors had to pump out her basement; she urged the city to inventory water infrastructure and prioritize replacement to avoid larger costs from future failures.
The mayor thanked her for speaking and noted the city would follow up. Pat Kelleher later referenced a related budget line from 2025 and sought clarity about the city’s use of allocated funds for leak response.
