A Christmas Eve landslide ruined the back of Merle Kelly鈥檚 two-acre property in Black Creek 鈥� something the 83-year-old widow fears will repeat.

The damage, which Kelly says she had foreseen for many years, followed two days of heavy rainfall that forced a great deal of water through a 20-inch culvert at the top of an embankment overlooking her Riverbend Road property.

The landslide uprooted about 15 large trees. The situation is likely to repeat itself unless something is done to divert water that pools in a large area of land above Doyle Road, she said this week.

Kelly alerted Emcon Services to the situation on Dec. 23, but said the company was 鈥渘o help.鈥� According to Kelly, the road construction and maintenance company said the slide was on private property, but she maintains it was not her fault that water was coming from the road.

鈥淭here鈥檚 been extensions put on it (culverts) before I bought here, and nobody seems to know anything about it,鈥� said Kelly, who has lived on the property for upwards of 18 years. She doubts she will be able to sell her lot in its current state.

鈥淚 mentioned this culvert before to transportation people, and nothing has ever been done,鈥� said Kelly, who first complained about the situation 12 years ago.

She said a suggestion by the Ministry of Transportation (MoT) for a bigger culvert under the road will not solve the problem. What鈥檚 needed is a comprehensive upgrade to the drainage system, she said.

Her downstream neighbour, Ron Chamberlain, has also met without success with Emcon and the ministry. A former employee of the Greater Vancouver Regional Water District, Chamberlain explained the situation two years ago when he met with ministry officials, whom he said chose not to address the issue.

Now it鈥檚 鈥渄amage control鈥� time, said Chamberlain, whose yard was badly flooded during the rainstorm.

He would like to see culverts installed on Doyle where it intersects with Dohm and James roads to divert water to Oyster River.

鈥淎ll we want is for the flow of the water to be changed so it doesn鈥檛 come down on our property,鈥� Kelly said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not asking the world.鈥�

Area C director Edwin Grieve said MoT officials have looked at the property, where water pressure had built up during the rainstorm and blew out part of the cliff.

A geotechnical engineer was scheduled to take a second look Tuesday.

鈥淭heir responsibility is basically the ditches and the highways,鈥� Grieve said, adding the landslide was essentially a 鈥渙nce-in-a-lifetime event.鈥�

鈥淢yself, I had a 150-foot high Douglas fir tree blow down because of all the water. I know what it feels like to have that sort of event happen.鈥�

Grieve, along with fellow regional district area directors Jim Gillis and Bruce Jolliffe, are to meet with the ministry to discuss what to do about ditching and culverts.

reporter@comoxvalleyrecord.com