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Supersaturated soil, blamed on a possibly faulty secondary-irrigation sprinkling system, was suspected in a landslide that briefly forced evacuation of a home in a Riverton subdivision, officials said Friday.

Unified Fire Authority spokesman Rob Morley said crews had shut off the flow of water to the system, used to water lands in the neighborhood along 12400 South and 1000 West. One home was initially ordered evacuated late Thursday, and two other homes reported water in their window wells and some seepage into basements.

"Right now, they are thinking its the secondary water sprinkling system to blame," Morley said. "Either people watering too much, or probably a break in a line somewhere."

Riverton city engineers and a private contractor retained by the city were inspecting the scene of the 2 p.m. Thursday, 30-foot wide by 30-foot long slide, which at one point destabilized lawn soil as close as 20 feet from the back deck of one home.

Shutting off water to the sprinkling system seemed to have worked, however. Morley said UFA personnel reported the slide area had dried out appreciably overnight, and no further slide movement had been reported.

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