A Colorado sheriff’s deputy traded her badge for a pair of waders (figuratively, at least) last week when a routine flood warning turned into a hands-on rescue mission. The Montrose County Sheriff’s Office is crediting Deputy Joie Shaball with stopping a neighborhood flood before it could reach anyone’s front door, and she did it the old-fashioned way: by wading into the mess herself.
The incident started Wednesday evening, July 22, around 5 p.m., when heavy rain sent an irrigation ditch near the 63700 block of Ida Road over its banks. Deputies were dispatched to the area after reports came in that floodwater was creeping toward nearby homes. With rain still falling and water levels climbing fast, deputies went door-to-door warning residents to keep an eye on the situation.
That’s when Deputy Shaball noticed the real problem. The ditch wasn’t overflowing because of rain volume alone. It had stopped doing its job entirely. A pile of debris had clogged the channel, backing up water and sending it spilling toward people’s yards instead of where it belonged.
Rather than wait for equipment or backup, Shaball climbed into the ditch and started clearing debris by hand. It worked. Water that had been pooling toward homes reversed course and flowed back into the ditch, easing the immediate threat to the neighborhood.
A Muddy Job Well Done
According to the sheriff’s office, the fix happened almost immediately once the blockage cleared. Shaball, when asked about her impromptu swim, kept it simple: “It was my pleasure to assist all the residents.”
No drama, no fanfare, just a deputy who saw a problem and got in the water to solve it.
More Than Just Traffic Stops
The sheriff’s office used the moment to point out just how varied the job actually is. Most days it’s standard law enforcement. Some days it’s search and rescue out in Montrose County’s backcountry. And every so often, apparently, it’s emergency ditch maintenance.
It’s a good reminder that rural deputies often end up filling in for whatever specialist isn’t available at the moment, whether that’s a plumber, a lifeguard, or in this case, an irrigation technician.
Our Take
There’s something refreshing about a story where the “hero moment” is just someone doing the unglamorous thing that needed doing. No high-speed chase, no dramatic rescue, just a deputy standing in a muddy ditch pulling out branches while the rain kept coming down.
We’ve all had that one household drain or gutter that decides to clog at the worst possible time, and most of us handle it with considerably less urgency and a lot more complaining. Shaball handled hers with a shovel’s worth of effort and a shrug.
That’s the kind of quiet competence that keeps a small community running, and it deserves the shoutout it got.