Atlanta Homeowners Demand Answers as Trash-Filled Floods Hit Their Backyards—and the City Offers No Fix

A group of homeowners in Adair Park, a historic neighborhood in Atlanta, say their backyards are flooding with water and trash during heavy rain.

They blame a buried, broken pipe, but city watershed officials say they have no record of any such pipe. Officials also claim it might be a private pipe, meaning it’s not their responsibility.

Fed-up residents are now stuck with flooded properties, no city fix, no clear next steps, and no remedy in sight.

A ‘toxic’ situation

As first reported by Atlanta News First, residents in this Atlanta suburb began noticing severe backyard flooding that appeared far too extreme to be caused by rainfall alone last winter.

Adair Park resident Drew Stuesloff told the outlet, “When it rains here, you might as well take out your kayak and start paddling across the back of the yards. The management of this is completely unacceptable. It’s not just rainwater; it’s complete greywater and very toxic.”

He enlisted the help of Zachary Dibble, a landscape architect who started his studio, Scale Design Collaborative, in 2019 with the desire to take a more environmental approach to traditional landscaping. As a fellow resident in the Adair Park neighborhood, Dibble was hired in October 2024 to evaluate Stuesloff’s property. Knowing full well that the neighborhood was prone to flooding, he was initially hired to “satisfy green infrastructure requirements to address new impervious surfaces from the city and fulfill his permit for a driveway that had been installed,” Dibble told Realtor.com®. Then, things escalated.

“While working out the design for a series of rain gardens to meet the requirements of the city, we began to have a series of heavy rains which resulted in a tremendous amount of flooding,” Dibble explained. “It became very apparent that this amount of water was not just the result of a new driveway.”

After reviewing some video footage taken by the homeowner, Dibble noticed a “very concentrated flow of water” coming from a back corner of the yard. After the rain subsided, they cleared the way to find the pipe buried in the ground. He says that the research he’s done has turned up a map from the city of Altanta’s records from 1969 that shows a stormwater pipe in this location.

However, when Dibble and his neighbor approached the city on the issue, Atlanta’s Department of Watershed Management said it had no record of a storm drain in that area.

“They are unwilling to address the issue as they feel it is the responsibility of the private homeowners to take care of,” Dibble said.

On the other hand, DWM Commissioner Greg Eyerly told Realtor.com in a statement that his team visited the property on May 21, 2025 for an evaluation”

“The area behind the private properties is a swampy low point with no known public drainage systems. As a result, stormwater naturally drains to this low point. This is a private matter, and the state constitution prohibits the use of public funds to improve private property. However, we will ensure that the street inlets and pipes within the public right-of-way are functioning correctly to drain stormwater effectively.”

Because of the standoff, Dibble and his team are currently in a “holding pattern in the design process.

“Before moving forward we want to make sure that it’s the right approach and who should be taking responsibility for this infrastructure and shouldering the costs of remediating this issue facing the community,” he said.

Meanwhile, the homeowners are still dealing with this issue during heavy rains, which will surely start to rise up again with hurricane season.

What to do first when water floods your yard

It’s an extremely frustrating situation, but if you find yourself in a position like this, experts say there are steps you can take to safeguard yourself and your house, as well as ways to fight back.

When a homeowner experiences this type of flooding, the typical first step is to “protect your property and mitigate water from coming into your home,” said certified floodplain manager Tyler Ardron, vice president of Floodproofing.com.

Next, figure out where the water in your yard is coming from.

“Look up before looking down—gutters, downspouts, and rooflines start 90% of backyard floods,” said Justin Cornforth, owner and CEO at Ace Home Co. in Greer, SC. “If it’s safe, run water at problem areas to see if they’re draining as they should. Think of it as a quick drain checkup before calling in pros.”

If there’s not an obvious blockage or an easy fix, call a local landscaping contractor or drainage specialist to assess the situation.

The city or county should be contacted if the flooding is “caused by runoff from public roads, stormwater backups, or failed municipal drainage infrastructure, which may fall within city responsibility,” said attorney Chad D. Cummings of Cummings & Cummings Law. “In contrast, water issues linked to private drainage systems, blocked yard pipes, or informal tie-ins are presumed to be the homeowner’s obligation, not the municipality’s.”

When communicating with the city, make sure you have proper documentation.

“Document the problem with time-stamped photos or video during or just after rainfall,” said Cummings. “Property records such as surveys, subdivision plats, and easement agreements should also be gathered.”

If the city denies responsibility, like it’s doing in Adair Park, Cummings said the homeowner should retain legal counsel, who can then engage a civil engineer under attorney-client privilege. “This preserves confidentiality over technical findings and ensures legal oversight of all investigatory steps,” he said.

Is it legal to have a private pipe in the public right of way—and what now?

Atlanta officials say the pipe in Adair Park may be private, which would leave residents high and dry (pun intended).

“When a city claims that a pipe ‘may be private,’ it is invoking sovereign immunity and avoiding responsibility absent clear evidence of municipal ownership, maintenance, or express dedication,” said Cummings. “In historic districts, unpermitted or undocumented systems are common and legally ambiguous.”

According to Cummings, homeowners may legally connect private systems to public storm drains if done under a valid permit. “But in the absence of such permit records or maintenance logs, responsibility typically remains with the homeowner or HOA, not the municipal government,” he said.

However, homeowners still have a few legal options.

Cummings said an Open Records Act request should be filed under Georgia law for stormwater maps, as-built drawings, work orders, and maintenance logs.

A civil engineer should then inspect the infrastructure.

“The engineer’s findings may support a claim that the infrastructure was part of the city’s system,” said Cummings. “A title report or review of subdivision covenants may uncover drainage easements or dedications inconsistent with the city’s position.”

Homeowners should also request a site review from city staff and elevate the matter to their city council member. “Filing a formal complaint with the city’s risk management or infrastructure department may trigger additional scrutiny, but this alone is unlikely to trigger a resolution,” warned Cummings.

If the city had prior notice of the defect or contributed to ongoing flooding, Cummings says a claim may lie in municipal nuisance, a limited exception to sovereign immunity recognized under Georgia law. “In particular, courts have held cities liable for maintaining a continuing nuisance that interferes with the use and enjoyment of private property,” he said.

But if the pipe is indeed determined to be private, liability may fall on an individual homeowner, a developer, or a homeowners association, depending on how the system was installed and who has maintenance obligations.

Common bureaucratic roadblocks Cummings has seen in situations like this include missing records, overlapping jurisdiction between city and county agencies, and reluctance to accept ownership of undocumented infrastructure.

“These can be overcome through an attorney-managed strategy that includes an expert report, public records, a timeline of complaints, and political pressure,” said Cummings. “If informal resolution fails, litigation may proceed under a theory of continuing nuisance, inverse condemnation, or—in private scenarios—civil tort theories, provided the homeowner can prove that action or inaction by a responsible party substantially interfered with the use of the property.”

Cummings said most of these cases will settle long before that point but insisted “it is imperative to engage in proper documentation and recordkeeping from the outset to bolster the case should litigation proceed.”

Additional edits and reporting provided by Dina Sartore-Bodo.