OGDEN, Utah (ABC 4 News) – A property dispute between an Ogden couple and their water company is getting ugly. The battle has been going on for several years and neither side is willing to back down.
Both sides obviously think they're right. The family says Pine View Water Systems is taking over some of their yard and front driveway for no reason. The water company says it's the family that's encroaching on federally owned property.
As Glenna and Doyle O'Dell show ABC 4 their surveyor's certificate from 1955 they say they're absolutely sure of where the South Ogden Highline Canal is and where their property begins, which is why they're upset with the water company that they claim is taking over what's theirs. Glenna O’Dell says, “We've given 15 feet of our property out in back, they took out 58 of our trees.”
But it's not stopping there. The property stakes are in place and according to the lines established, it's cutting off a corner of the couple's front lawn. O’Dell says, “I said no it's our property, we even have the survey, everything, he said oh we're not going to acknowledge that.”
A spokesperson for the Ogden River Water User Association wouldn't talk on-camera, but says the property in question is "Owned by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation," that the "Bureau requires them to go into their canal properties and establish property lines so they can operate and maintain their property."
So why is the bureau doing this now? They're chalking it up to safety and encroachment on federal land and say it's been an ongoing operation since 2000
