ABSAROKEE - An Absarokee family is facing a tough situation: gallons of water flooding the basement.
The Snyders have lived in the residence for two months and attribute the flooding to a ditch overgrown with grass.
"Pulled out 45 gallons of water Friday," Coy Snyder said. "Saturday, we pulled out another 45 gallons. Sunday we pulled out another 45 gallons. And that was just until we were too physically tired to keep going."
Snyder and his wife have been clearing out the water for about a week.
"I cannot properly express my frustration nor my fear for the future of my home," he said.
Snyder said the water table underneath his property is saturated, and he says the ditch in his neighbor's backyard is to blame.
"It's actually caused the actual runoff ditch here to backflow onto the property," Snyder said. "All this grass before this happened was high enough to hide a buck."
Q2 News talked with the neighbor, who was out of town.
She says she usually maintains her yard and the ditch has overflowed into her yard in the past.
Making matters worse, Snyder does not know where to go for help.
"I can't get word from the ditch authority, from our commissioners or anything knowing who is responsible for that ditch," Snyder said.
The Stillwater County Ditch Authority president said it has some water flowing into the ditch, but it's actually a drainage ditch.
He also believes that the recent flooding may have contributed to the higher water table and says others in the neighborhood have also experienced flooding or seepage.
A Stillwater County commissioner said the county does not have any oversight on the ditch and it is run by a private irrigation company.
Snyder said the ground may be too saturated to clear the blockage, so all he and his family can do is wait.
"The damages right now are untold because I can't even begin to mitigate it," Snyder said. "All I can do is just continue to keep moving water out until it stops. And if they're right in saying that creek ain't gonna dry up until January, I don't know what I'm going to do."
