Wellton warns of more water outages as flood project uncovers repairs
Wellton’s flood project has already triggered three water notices in three days as crews found aging lines and deferred maintenance under the town’s streets.
Water shutoffs tied to Wellton’s flood-control project have grown more complicated than the town first expected, with crews uncovering aging water infrastructure and deferred maintenance as they dug into the work. The new discoveries forced changes to the plan and set off a string of service interruptions that left north Wellton bracing for another outage.
The Town of Wellton said in a June 17 release that work by Accurate Excavation uncovered problems that were not visible before construction began. The town said those findings, tied to years of deferred maintenance in parts of the water system, led to additional interruptions while crews adjusted the job in place.
Another outage was scheduled for Thursday, June 18, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. for residents on the north side of town. That followed a separate water service interruption notice issued for Wednesday, June 17, which first said water would be off from 8 a.m. to noon while crews installed a line drop for the storm drain. The town later updated that notice to say the interruption would expand to the entire north side of town, with service expected back by about 2 p.m.
The notices came on top of a June 15 shutoff alert that rescheduled an earlier outage to Tuesday, June 16, from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. That notice also closed Helen Street between Los Angeles Avenue and Oakland Avenue for about 125 feet, a reminder that the flood work was already pushing beyond a simple utility repair and into the street network residents use every day.
Yuma County identifies the project as Wellton Area Drainage Improvements-Phase 2, CIP #1.2605. The county awarded the work on February 2, 2026, to Accurate Excavation of Arizona, LLC for $1,877,779.90, and said the contractor mobilized on June 4. The scope reaches across Maybelle Street, Helen Street, Central Wellton and Oakland Avenue storm drains and retention basins, while also including relocation of an existing water line in the Jesse Street area.
County officials say the broader project is meant to improve drainage and flood mitigation through new storm drainage and sanitary sewer systems, an embankment, street improvements, a floodgate, floodwall, overflow spillway and pump station. Work is planned Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. for about a year, which means the pressure on Wellton’s water system is unlikely to ease soon. As the ground opens up, the town is finding out how much of the system still needs attention.
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