Yukon government officials are vowing to continue offering help to residents in the Zircon Lane area of Copper Ridge dealing with water.

They remain confident, however, that the trench they dug last year to divert water from pooling in the basement of area homes will continue to prove effective.

"That's working very well,” Marc Perreault, an official with the Department of Community Services, said in an interview Tuesday afternoon.

The ditch appears to be doing its jobs, and there are plans for an automatic pump system to be installed this year.

Despite that, Perreault said, there was a moment of panic Monday when the government received a call from a resident of the area who had water seeping into a basement.

That sent representatives from Community Services and the Yukon Housing Corp. up to the home to investigate. They eventually found the basement flooding was caused by a broken waterline in the neighbouring half of the duplex.

"It was within the home,” Perreault explained.

While that will be a matter for the homeowners to work out with their insurance company or to get fixed on their own dime, Perreault said, the government is continuing to offer help to Zircon Lane residents who may be hit with water damage.

Anyone in the area experiencing issues is welcome to contact Community Services to have it looked at, he said.

It was nearly a decade ago that the problems of water damaging homes in the area first came up when, in 2001, the foundation of a home at 10 Zircon Lane was ruined.

The government, which developed Copper Ridge beginning in the 1990s, eventually bought out the owners at number 10.

The problem continued up the street though and into the basements of other home owners into last year.

Government officials met with homeowners last year and eventually opted to install the trench the city has been pumping out.

The government also offered financial assistance to residents in the form of grants of up to $35,000 for home repairs to affected property owners.

Perreault said some property owners have or are currently taking advantage of that program, while others continue to have concerns that the government efforts don't go far enough.

Engineers are continuing to monitor the trench to ensure it is indeed diverting water away from the residential properties and assess whether more work needs to be done.

The automatic pump that will be installed means the city will no longer have to pump it into the city's storm drain.