Residents of Sunnyside seek solution for water mysteriously pooling on street

Some residents of the inner-city Calgary community ofSunnysideare hopingthe city can find a way to turn off the tap on an underground spring that leaves water pooling on their street year-round.

The water has been causing trouble on Sunnyhill Lane N.W. for the past couple of years.

"About two years ago, this puddle showed up, and it doesn't go away,"said Christie Page, who has lived in the neighbourhood for 10 years.

"It is always there. It's there in the winter, it's there in the fall, it's there in the spring, it's throughout the summer."

WATCH | A persistent puddle is flooding Sunnyside residences:

The case of the never disappearing Sunnyside puddle

3 years ago

Duration 1:37

Residents of Sunnyside in Calgary want the city to fix a constantly flooded alleyway.

The water is there even during heat waves and winter cold. It's coming from an underground spring, either under the road or a nearby escarpment.

Some residents can't use their garages, while others run their sump pumps all the time to keep their basements dry.

Vania Chivers, a senior project engineer with the city's water services, said her team has been focused on finding the source of the water, as well as ways to connect it to a proper drain.

"We've had to have an engineering consultant come on board and help us with some of the investigation," Chivers said.

"We're really just focusing on installing new grates and pipes in the lane to carry that water away, and to solve the problem."

Residents like Page are just looking forward to a time when their street is finally dry.

"Ithink if they can get the water flowing into the drain and the drain is able to hold the water, that would be fabulous," she said.

Chivers said the city is working on designing a solution and planning to build it by spring 2022.