Underground spring water floods at least 17 North Ogden homes

OGDEN, Utah — At least 17 North Ogden homes are flooded and it’s not from water coming down the mountain. It’s coming from below.

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Bob Taggart has lived in his North Ogden home since 1980. He has two springs that run through his yard. This year, there’s so much water, neighbors, including him, have water seeping into their basements, causing major damage.

In Taggart’s basement, that started flooding weeks ago, he’s still pumping out 240-gallons every six hours. On top of that, he had a giant trench dug from the side of his yard to drain through the front. His hope is to get the water away from his foundation.

“Up in the corner of the house, where he started,” Taggart told KSLTV. “It’s seven feet deep, and here, you can see and it daylights out to just flows.”

It’s a major eyesore and a big disappointment to his wife that has, in years past, used that area to garden. Her favorite is blackberries.

One street up, Valerie Cullison and her family have ripped out all of the carpet in the basement and, this week, installed two permanent sump pumps.

“There was water coming up through the cracks over here,” Cullison said. “It was flowing out, all over the place and coming up through the cracks and everywhere.”

She’s lived her 36 years and has never had flooding like this. She hopes the new pumps will permanently solve the current problem and what may happen in the future.

Both the Cullisons and the Taggarts have talked to city leaders but say they see why the city can’t do anything. They believe it’s just a shift in the overall underground spring system, although it’s still hard to believe how much water there is.

Regardless of what happens in years to come, Taggart won’t be leaving.

“I was born here in North Ogden, this was my dad’s and his parents before him, land, and this is our land.”

Related: Where to get sandbags to help mitigate possible flooding in Utah