Water main break causes sinkhole, shoots chunks of asphalt at SLO home
A sinkhole opened up in a San Luis Obispo neighborhood early Wednesday morning after a water main broke, sending a plume of water shooting across the street.
According to a post on the San Luis Obispo Police Department Instagram, the water main broke in the 300 block of Calle Lupita in the early morning hours, “causing a large sink hole.”
A video posted by neighbor Todd Kent on Wednesday showed the water blasting from the broken pipe, seeming to direct its torrent directly at one of the homes on the street.
Kent told The Tribune when the water main broke, it also shot chunks of asphalt and debris at the home for nearly two hours.
One tennis-ball-sized chunk just barely missed their kitchen window, he said, noting it instead hit a wind chime.
According to the Police Department post, the Utilities Department was working to fix the broken pipe as of mid-morning Wednesday. Water to most of the street was shut off while the work was ongoing.
Coincidentally, the incident happened to occur during National Public Works and Utilities Week, the Police Department post noted.
“Many thanks to our city partners who are doing the hard work keeping our city infrastructure in great shape!” the post concluded.
This is the second water main break and sinkhole to occur in the area in recent years.
In 2022, the same street flooded after a water main broke at the intersection of Calle Lupita and Calle Jazmin.
That incident sent nearby residents on a mad dash to try to protect their homes from the barrage of water and resulted in one of the city’s utilities trucks getting stuck in the sink hole.
This story was originally published May 21, 2025 at 10:30 AM.
%20Cropped.jpg)