At the end of the dry creek bed at my side back corner is a dry pool bed that holds the water until it flows down hill to the left - going across the back of our backyard. The back eight feet of both my backyard and this back side yard are actually "city alleyway". Our lot and our back neighbor's lot meet at the low point of this alley so their rain water also flows under their fence to the alley in my back yard. Most properties have fences either enclosing it or shutting it out. The "alley" is where the water runs from one yard to the next until it reaches the next crossing street where the drain is. Because this is city property, most people do not plant much in this part of their yard although I have been planting sedum and other plants that absorb the excess water, slow erosion and survive during dry periods.
The water from my neighbors to the right (up slope) runs into my yard from under their fence all along my side back yard but mostly across the alley way and from the front side yards- which naturally slope towards my back gate and side yard.
All the homes are built up a bit and the yards slope down towards the street and towards the alleyway. Each lot has a higher side (my right) and a lower side (my left).
If I had unlimited funds and was a few decades younger, I would install French drains to divert the rain water to the front street where city curb drains are located.
