HOMEOWNERS BLAME WATER AGENCY FOR DAMAGE TO LAWNS NEIGHBORS SAY PRESSURE TOO LOW FOR SPRINKLERS TO WORK.Byline: Kathleen Sweeney Sweeney in poems by T. S. Eliot, symbolizes the sensual, brutal, and materialistic 20th-century man. [Br. Poetry, Benét, 978] See : Virility Staff Writer CANYON COUNTRY - Fed up with years of low water pressure from the Newhall County Water District, a couple of Canyon Country residents are demanding that the water agency reimburse re·im·burse tr.v. re·im·bursed, re·im·burs·ing, re·im·burs·es 1. To repay (money spent); refund. 2. To pay back or compensate (another party) for money spent or losses incurred. them for about $20,000 in damage to landscaping. Jan Burns and Donna Hettema say water pressure dropped so low that their automatic sprinklers could not function properly to spray their flower beds and lawns. Water district officials said the pressure problem is being fixed, but they denied that the agency is liable for any damage. They said the district is not obligated ob·li·gate tr.v. ob·li·gat·ed, ob·li·gat·ing, ob·li·gates 1. To bind, compel, or constrain by a social, legal, or moral tie. See Synonyms at force. 2. To cause to be grateful or indebted; oblige. to provide any particular amount of water pressure - a fact that is spelled out in its customer water agreement. ``We went to the board, and they told us they aren't required to provide a set amount of water pressure,'' Burns said. ``They say they aren't responsible.'' Written agreements claim the district ``is neither guaranteeing nor agreeing that it will supply water at any specific pressures, quantities or quality for domestic, fire protection, or any other purpose and no such obligation is hereby created by accepting this application for water service.'' Burns and Hettema claim they never signed such an agreement when they purchased their homes more than 15 years ago. They have 60 days to file an appeal or lawsuit lawsuit: see procedure; tort. fighting for their money. If they do, agency officials said they will seek reimbursement Reimbursement Payment made to someone for out-of-pocket expenses has incurred. for all of the district's court costs court costs n. fees for expenses that the courts pass on to attorneys, who then pass them on to their clients or, in some kinds of cases, to the losing party. . Since the complaints began earlier this year, water pressure has increased to the Melia Melia genus in the family Meliaceae. Melia azederach, Melia dubia much used as a shade tree. The seed causes severe diarrhea with dysentery. There may also be excitement and dyspnea. Way homes. In the past few weeks, the agency began building a new water-regulating station to pump more water up the hill. Completion of the station is expected by Wednesday. ``We did that for the benefit of these people,'' said Ken Petersen, district general manager. Pressure started to drop in the hilltop neighborhood in Canyon Country two years ago when construction began on a nearby housing development, Burns said. It slowly kept dropping, she said, until toilets would not flush To empty the contents of a memory buffer. See buffer. Flush Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s spaniel, subject of a biography. [Br. Lit.: Woolf Flush in Barnhart, 446] See : Dogs (data) flush and there was enough water pressure for showers only late at night. Then, in July, the lawn and other landscaping around her home died, she said, for a loss of $12,000 to $15,000, she said. Hettema said her family experienced the same problems. When she came home at the end of August from vacation, her lawn and flowers were dead. She estimates damage at nearly $6,000 to resod the lawn and replace the sprinkler system. The neighbors never previously strongly complained, Burns said, but ran out of patience when toilets wouldn't flush and sprinklers wouldn't function automatically. ``I've been patient and nice,'' Burns said. ``I really don't like all this turmoil.'' Petersen agrees that customers should be able at least to rinse the shampoo shampoo a cleaning agent, usually liquid, for hair; usually consists of a detergent and perfume. Some, usually referred to as medicated shampoos, contain therapeutic substances such as parasiticides, antimicrobials, ketatolytic agents, and antiseborrheic compounds such as selenium from their hair and flush the toilet, but said the agency isn't responsible for replacing landscaping. ``We would be buying everybody's grass,'' he said. ``It was a low- pressure situation. We verified ver·i·fy tr.v. ver·i·fied, ver·i·fy·ing, ver·i·fies 1. To prove the truth of by presentation of evidence or testimony; substantiate. 2. that and fixed it.'' CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) Saying water pressure dropped so low on a Canyon Country hilltop that sprinklers wouldn't work, from left, Jim Small, Jan Burns and Donna Hettema want water district reimbursement for ruined lawns. Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News |
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