TAMPA, Fla. — As the Tampa Bay area rebounds from Tropical Storm Debby, the storm also highlighted infrastructure needs, as heavy rain and flooding spilled thousands of gallons of wastewater and sewage.
Water is part of the fabric of life in the Tampa Bay area.
“I’d argue that water is our greatest asset that we have here in Tampa Bay,” said Justin Tramble, the executive director of Tampa Bay Waterkeeper.
Tramble thinks we have to do a better job prioritizing protecting that resource.
“When you have events like this, it just underscores the importance of investing and prioritizing investments that are needed to update our aging infrastructure,” said Tramble.
Tropical Storm Debby brought massive flooding and excessive rainfall to the region, putting pressure on wastewater infrastructure.
This map highlights the handful of reports ABC Action News looked into across the Tampa Bay area, from manholes and wastewater overflowing to raw sewage spilling all due to the storm.
ABC Action News’ chopper captured the aftermath from above, while viewers also shared their videos of the murky waters.
“It gets overwhelmed sometimes just as traffic jams, and that’s exacerbated if there aren’t enough roads,” said Don Duke, a professor of Water Resources and chair of the Department of Ecology and Environmental Studies in the Water School at Florida Gulf Coast University.
Duke ran through long-term and short-term impacts of these types of overflows, including health concerns.
“It’s one thing if you’re splashing in puddles in your backyard where you know where that water came from. It fell from the sky and ran across the grass in your backyard,” said Duke. “But water that’s running down the street, you should fully expect at least possibly to be mixed with that kind of human waste, and exposure to that is a real health threat.”
Aside from the health aspect, there’s the environmental impact, too.
“When the release is on the magnitude of what we’re talking about, that’s a large slug of nutrients entering the environment at once, and we know that nutrient contamination is an issue that can cause environmental damage to Tampa Bay and to other receiving waters,” said Duke.
As far as what local municipalities in the region should do to try to prevent some of these overflow problems, Duke said the solution is to improve the infrastructure.
“Just as we would invest in roads if we have potholes, if we have capacity issues with roads, investing in wastewater treatment and sewage collection and water distribution systems is the answer,” said Duke.
It’s a potential solution to an ongoing problem, as our season of storms isn’t over yet.
“Tampa Bay is super resilient, but it can only take so much,” said Tramble.
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