About Gutter Ponds

Standing water, or “gutter ponds,” are low areas at the curb and gutter of a street. These areas hold water after rainfalls, lawn watering, etc.
Gutter ponds are caused by a variety of things, including shifting soils, tree root damage, and general deterioration of the street sub-surface over time.

Ratings of Gutter Ponds

Street Division personnel rate gutter ponds to indicate the severity of the ponding location. A gutter pond is rated on a 1 to 4 scale, with 1 representing only minor ponding, and 4 representing severe ponding.

A small area up to an inch depth, appearing after a rain, but evaporating with a couple of days, would receive a rating of 1.

A rating of 4 indicates a severe problem where the depth of gutter ponding is four or more inches. Some ponding has even been observed over six inches in depth.

Other features can affect the rating other than depth. For example, how far the water reaches out into the street or how wide the location is may effect the rating. Often, if several gutter ponds are grouped together in the same area, the ponding location may receive a somewhat higher rating.

This is an example of a location that was rated a 4.
Note the extent of the water into the street
and the depth of gutter ponding of 4 or more inches.

The Gutter Pond Program

An annual budget of $50,000 is available to correct only the most severe locations. Unfortunately, this amount only allows a few repair locations per year.
On average, the City maintains a database with approximately 400+ ponding locations in the City of Arlington. Approximately 1/10 of those are rated a 4.

Other City of Arlington “Fixes”

When the Street Division initially visits the gutter pond location for rating purposes, the Crew Chief will determine if a simple repair will correct the problem. If so, the work is then immediately performed, and the ponding location is rated a “0” in the gutter pond database. However, if it is found that the street is on the Rebuild List, no repairs are performed since the entire street will be reconstructed from curb to curb.

Additionally, we coordinate our ponding program with the Street Division resurfacing maintenance program. If the street is scheduled for resurfacing, crews will attempt to repair the curb and gutter problem prior to the resurfacing.

Rebuild and Resurfacing lists are currently planned two to three years into the future, but the Department is working to create five-year plans for both. Due to interdepartmental coordination and funding issues, these lists are subject to change.

Please see the City of Arlington’s Public Works and Transportation website for the current list of planned projects.

What Citizens Can Do About Gutter Ponds

Citizens can take action to help protect the integrity of their streets. First and foremost, simply sweeping water from the gutter area helps. This action helps prevent water from seeping under the road surface and deteriorating the road base.

Additionally, if the water is coming from a neighbor's sprinkler system, try to talk to the neighbor and get them to adjust their timer or sprinkler head direction to limit the water that enters the street and gutter.

Finally, we encourage citizens to call and report gutter ponding locations. This action helps City personnel know where ponding locations exist, and ultimately, assists in creating future project work plans.