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MURRAY — The canal breach in Murray that flooded homes last week is now causing problems for others who depend on the water.
A lot of people depend on the canal water, including Salt Lake Community College's Taylorsville campus. Assistant Vice president of facilities Bob Askerlund said right now the school is using a pipe connected to its culinary system to water on a limited basis.
Of the 115-acre campus, 35 of those acres are green space. And using culinary water costs a lot more, which is why the school uses canal water, Askerlund said.
"When it gets hot and the wind blows, our trees really suffer if they're not watered heavily," he said. "So we're trying to compensate for that at this point as best we can."
SLCC has been told it might be a month or more before the canal is fixed. Askerlund said the school will try to keep the campus as green as possible until then.
"We'll hit the trouble spots as best we can and try to keep things as green as possible through the repair period, and then try and recover once the canal is flowing again," he said.
The breach sent a wall of mud and water tumbling into more than a half dozen homes Saturday. Some owners of homes on the south side of Saddle Bluff Drive (6765 South) and 1200 West fear their homes have been damaged to the point they will have to be demolished.
