Anderson-area homeowners recover from flooding as officials plan repairs to leaky canal

The chronic flooding that caused tens of thousands of dollars in damage to Susan and Ora Sherwood's Anderson home and property has finally subsided.

She only needs to look out into her yard to see the destruction wrought from six months of water that she said leaked out of the nearby Anderson Cottonwood Irrigation District Canal.

The landscaping around her house was inundated with water from the canal, her drinking water well was swamped, trees were killed, the underside of her home was damaged and her driveway is "wasted," she said.

"I don't want to nitpick about things, but it has been a terrible, a terrible experience," Tracy Sherwood said.

The Sherwoods are one of numerous property owners living near the A.C.I.D. canal that had their property flooded this year by water leaking from the district's canals.

Several residents living near the canal, which runs from Redding to Cottonwood, said a little seepage is normal during the spring and summer irrigation season. But this year was different, they said.

Parry Salsi's house is less than 100 feet from the canal, where it winds south of Redding. He said during a normal year he would get some standing water on his property for six to eight weeks at the beginning of irrigation season in April and May.

"This year the canal leaked all the way to October, at least," he said. He dug trenches at various places on his 2 acres to divert water away from a small mother-in-law residence on his parcel. He also installed pumps to keep the water away from the building.

Despite his efforts, he worries the walls in the small unit may have been damaged by flood water.

District officials said they plan to spend millions this coming winter repairing and lining the canals to prevent water from flooding nearby property again.

Where the water leaked the worst and damaged property, the district plans to line thousands of feet of canal with a plastic-type liner and then cover that with concrete, said Justin Dahl, the district's general manager. He said the district has hired engineers to also consider other remedies to prevent further flooding next year.

Dahl was hired in June, in the middle of irrigation season and when the flooding and damage was in full swing.

He said the leakage problems can be traced back to 2022, when the district did not divert water from the Sacramento River into the canal for the first time in more than 100 years. California and the North State were in the midst of a severe drought that forced the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to cut back on the amount of water that could be diverted from the Sacramento River.

District officials said at the time that the agency would not have received enough water to deliver water to its customers along the entire reach of its canal system, so they sold what was left of the annual allotment to other districts in the Sacramento Valley.

The proceeds from those sales are being used to make repairs before the next irrigation season begins in the spring, Dahl said.

Much of the leakage problem was due to the numerous trees that grew up along the canal banks. The tree roots grew into the ditch banks to feed off the water. When the canal went dry in 2022, many of the trees died and the roots shriveled up.

When the canal filled again in 2023, water ran out the holes where there were previously roots, Dahl said.

Note to readers: If you appreciate our effort to highlight critical issues in your community, please help power our local journalism. Subscribe to the Redding Record Searchlight.

Jeff Youman, who lives off Thomas Road south of Redding, said that 10 large trees on his property died when the canal remained empty in 2022. He was worried the trees would fall on his house, so he spent more than $9,000 to have the trees cut down.

In 2023, Youman said his property was flooded with standing water.

"All summer I mowed in three inches of water and it was it was growing pond scum and it stunk. I mean that's how bad it got in the backyard. I never had that happen in all the 40 years I've been here," he said.

The stretch of canal near where Youman lives is on the list of repairs slated in the next several months, Dahl said.

There are three projects planned in Anderson: stretches of canal along Fair Oaks Drive, Bruce Street and Hill Street. Those jobs entail repairing and lining a total of about two-thirds of a mile of canal, Dahl said.

The district also plans to bury portions of the canal off Shady Lane in Anderson ― where the Sherwoods live ― and run water through a pipe, Dahl said.

Another estimated 4,500 feet of canal is slated for repair and lining in the areas of North Bonnyview Road in Redding, Lady Smith Avenue south of Redding and near Della Lane in Cottonwood, Dahl said.

All of the canal work is estimated to cost at least $4 million, Dahl said. But even the most immediate work planned won't cure all the ills in the district's water delivery system, he said.

"That's just that's just a drop in the bucket. There's a lot more maintenance issues that we have to address. We're still in the stone age here at A.C.I.D. We need to get caught up with the times," Dahl said.

Reporter Damon Arthur welcomes story tips at 530-338-8834, by email at damon.arthur@redding.com and on Twitter at @damonarthur_RS. Help local journalism thrive by subscribing today!

This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: 'Wasted' driveways, funky pond scum: Leaky canal frustrates homeowners