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Drain dispute causing backyard sinkhole in St. Peters

"If it keeps sinking, I'm going to have to bring in more dirt and more river rock every time it rains."

ST. PETERS, Mo. – A St. Peters woman said her yard is in danger of collapsing into a sinkhole.

She said it's all because of water coming off her neighbor's property.

Julie Cattoor's backyard sits downhill of her next-door neighbor’s property.

The backyard is her haven, with a pool, an open patio and even fake palm trees.

But Cattoor fears all of it could come crumbling down because of what's happening beneath the rocky hill surrounding the back of her yard, butting up against her neighbor’s property.

"It's caving in. And it's caving in right there," said Cattoor, pointing to her neighbor’s fence.

Caving in because Cattoor said her contractor found drains buried near her property line funneling water from her neighbor’s lot, onto her own. She had those drains plugged up, but it hasn't helped. In fact, she recently had to replace a retaining wall, severely damaged by the groundwater, costing her thousands of dollars.

"Water is coming in and flowing on my side. If it keeps sinking, I’m going to have to bring in more dirt and more river rock every time it rains," said Cattoor.

Cattoor appealed to the city of St. Peters for code enforcement help.

But since her neighbor technically lives in St Charles county, Julie said she's gotten nowhere.

"I’m not getting any response other than, 'it's a civil matter,’” said Cattoor.

It could've been a civil matter against the man at the top of the hill, her neighbor John Gantner.

The water causing her backyard to crumble is coming from his yard.

So, 5 On Your Side decided to pay him a visit.

Gantner said he was very familiar with the problem. He said he never installed drains on Cattoor's property.

"This is just the natural flow of the landscape here," said Gantner.

And finally revealed he had plans to fix it by adding a small wall onto his side of the fence, to help distribute the groundwater more evenly.

Cattoor is hopeful it's a solution that will save her yard. And make it a place of less worry and more peace.

"I don't need the stress every time it rains to go up there and try to fix the damage that's being done," said Cattoor.

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