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<br />------------------- <br /> <br />TUESDA Y, July 21, 1987 <br /> <br />Adobe basements crum~ling in San Luis <br /> <br />ByWANDADJETRI~ <br />CourlerCortlellpoDdent <br />SAN LUIS.,'-' Frlends:have' told <br />Dolo(es AreU~IJO her hOUll8 In north san: <br />~"ilke"PJrradl""',lt 'Is- a.Jlice. <br />house, . with trees'Andcoloriul f)ower.l <br />greeting vlsitor.land lID Idyllic view, 01 a <br />hay !ield to the nO!i!J, . <br />. There" is . trouble: In'that Paradise,' <br />though, and Arellano.bi8mes It'on the <br />hayfield, The troubie ,Is .water.JotS pI <br />. water,inberhasement.' . <br />She Is nol alone, Five other bouses In <br />San Luis have the same problem, and <br />. aU live. of them are near, the s8me hay <br />lIeld, In a way. Arellano Is luckier than <br />her nelghbor.l, because she has pumps <br />to' keep the water in'. her hasement <br />under control, <br />Some of the others don't. <br />Delores Alire measured 31 inches 01 <br />water in her basement on July 13, She <br /> <br />had to bail the wa~r out by hand <br />1hroughthe trap door lober kitchen, . <br />Maurice Cordova lound the walls in <br />hls adobe' basement ..crumbllng ",md <br />tllllillg in beciilR of the high water, ' <br />Arellano' and, her neighbors blame <br />their problems on the Irrigation of the <br />hay field. She says her basement water <br />. gets hlgher every time the field Is <br />flOode<L A Soil Conservation. Service <br />.englneerlng stUdy dated June 15 also <br />suggesls the Irrigation Is the: cause Of <br />the problem, '. . <br />The city and county have conducted <br />studies on the problem, but Arellano <br />says they haven't gotten. rid of the <br />water In her basement... <br /> <br />"Now they are' Just going to do. <br />another 'study,'" she said. IIWe~ve <br />.alreadYihad,g study, What good .wlll' <br />another "one do?U . <br /> <br />A deep dltch dug earllel'thls year ha, <br />been' flUed' in bytbe' County, . but <br />Arellano said water still runs there... <br />"II looks Uke. a: river," she' said. <br />Filling the dltcb with loose d1rfdldn'.t <br />seem to help any, she added, . <br /> <br />Tbe Town of San Luis and Costilla <br />County are working to !ind a solution to <br />what has proved to be a difficult <br />problem, In the meantime, asks' <br />Arellano, "How am 1 going to pay my <br />electric bills lor the pumps?" <br />