Manatee officials tour Lake Manatee Dam site amid flooding concerns from residents

Officials give tour of dam amid flooding concerns

Kimberly Kuizon reports

MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. - Manatee County leaders gave a behind-the-scenes look at operations at the Lake Manatee Dam on Wednesday after the county saw flooding and heavy rainfall in recent weeks.

During Debby, 18 billion gallons of water were released from the Lake Manatee Dam. County leaders said the dam did its job, and flooding in areas like Lakewood Ranch were not connected.

"That occurred because of 17 inches of rain that passed through this area, an unprecedented amount and no system, no system was ever going to be designed to handle that," said Charlie Hunsicker, the director of natural resources for Manatee County.

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

Officials stressed the dam is not built for flood control, but for drinking water supply.

"Flood control is a very, very difficult thing and if it’s just on the Manatee River it will not prevent much of the flooding that people saw during Debby," said Evan Pilachowski, the Manatee deputy county administrator.

Officials, including Pilachowski, Utilities Director Patrick Shea, Deputy Utilities Director Katie Gilmore and Hunsicker answered questions on Wednesday regarding operations at the Lake Manatee Dam. They also toured the facility as heavy rain and repeated flooding in recent weeks continue to impact homes, most notably the havoc left behind from Debby.

As Manatee County gave a look at the dam, questions over rampant development and rezoning of rural land rose to the top. Pilachowski said it would be up to the county commission to address the concerns.

"That is certainly something that bears more discussion and study as we move forward," said Pilachowski.

Manatee County is launching a third party investigation into the flooding, but off of Rye Road and 675, resident Michele English wants something done now.

"We have never had a problem with flooding at all with the dam opening, it’s opened through storms Charlie, Ian and all of the storms until all the rapid development, until these developments came in and there’s nowhere for the water to go," she said.

English is one of many residents who now see flooding occurring because of passing storms.

"This was a farming community and the developers came in, which is perfectly acceptable, built their subdivisions to the FEMA guidelines, raised their elevations and that’s where the problems came in. Because there was no infrastructure for the drainage," said English.

She has helped organize a flooding and development community forum, and she wants to help protect existing residents and their properties.

"The infrastructure just is not capable of handling the mass quantity of people and influx happening with all these developments at this point, and we need to address it," English said.

After feeling shut out by Manatee County, English hopes by joining together, residents can make a difference.

"We are not going to stop until we bring Manatee County up to what it needs to handle this," she said.

The Flooding and Development Community Forum will be held on Saturday, September 7, from 5-7 p.m. at Parrish United Methodist Church. For more information, email Eastmanateepreservation@gmail.com.