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Manatee County residents voice concern about flooding, Lake Manatee Dam during commissioners meeting

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Updated  August 27, 2024 5:23pm EDT
Manatee County
FOX 13 News

Manatee County residents voice concern about flooding, Lake Manatee Dam during commissioners meeting

Manatee County residents fed up with flooding addressed county commissioners at their regular meeting Tuesday. FOX 13's Arial Plasencia reports.

BRADENTON, Fla. - Manatee County residents fed up with flooding addressed county commissioners at their regular meeting Tuesday.

"Never had a river in my house," one resident said while showing the commission pictures of his flooded neighborhood.

"We have never seen flooding like we have this year," a Parrish resident added during public comment.

"Under your leadership, Manatee County has allowed new development without proper attention to drainage and roads," another said, addressing commissioners.

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A discussion on flooding and the Lake Manatee Dam was not on Tuesday’s agenda, but county experts did address some of these concerns from residents.

Officials said during Debby, the county released 18 billion gallons of water that flowed through the reservoir, which only has the capacity for one third that amount.

"So the six billion gallon reservoir simply is not big enough to act as both the water supply reservoir and a storm retention reservoir," Evan Pilachowski, Manatee County Deputy County Administrator said. "There’s simply no way to put 18 billion gallons in a six-billion-gallon container. So in those cases, we have no choice but to allow the water to flow through and protect the infrastructure of the dam to make sure that the county continues to have water supply."

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The county reiterated its same stance Tuesday, saying that releasing water from the dam did not cause flooding in Lakewood Ranch. However, officials did admit that the county’s communication with downstream residents could be updated moving forward.

"We are fully sympathetic, and we know that there’s real suffering for many of the residents who experienced flooding throughout the storm and subsequent rainfall events," Pilachowski said.

Additionally, there was a discussion about social media after comments were disabled on the Manatee County, Florida Government Facebook page. On Tuesday, the commission asked the county attorney to review the county’s social media procedures so that commissioners can have a discussion about turning the comments back on at their next meeting in Sept.

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