MANATEE COUNTY, Fla — More than a month after Tropical Storm Debby came through the area, Manatee County officials are trying to educate the community on how the Lake Manatee Dam works – and why they say it was not to blame for severe flooding that ruined so many homes.
Tropical Storm Debby dropped as much as 17 inches of rain in parts of the county, requiring the rescue of more than a couple hundred residents from their homes or vehicles.
Many in the community have blamed county officials for how water was released from the dam during Debby, forcing county commissioners to order an independent investigation.
“When you’re searching for answers if you’ve gone through this calamity in y our own home, you want to find answers that just make sense to you,” Director of Natural Resources Charlie Hunsicker said on Wednesday morning. “But I can tell with 100 percent certainty, the Manatee River basin and the discharge from the dam did not move through the Braden River basin and creating the flooding there.”
County officials have remained steadfast that the dam worked as designed during Debby. On Wednesday, local members of the media were invited to tour the dam and question leaders about operations.
Lake Manatee provides about two-thirds of Manatee County's drinking water, about 12 billion gallons a year. County staff operate the dam 24 hours a day, monitoring water levels and flow in and out.
“This structure was built for one purpose only and that was to create an impoundment across the Manatee River to bring a fresh water supply to the developing Manatee County,” Hunsicker said.
The lake holds about six billion gallons of water, but Tropical Storm Debby delivered another 17 billion gallons of water. The top of the reservoir stands at 50 feet but is designed to maintain between 38 to 42 feet.
During the rainy season, the lake level is maintained around 38 feet.
“We dropped the lake ahead of Debby to 36 feet. That’s very typical. That’s where we went for Irma. That’s about where we went for Ian,” Utilities Deputy Director Katherine Gilmore said. “That’s a normal level to go when you know you are going to get some rain.”
Operators say they can’t drop the lake too much without jeopardizing the county’s water supply, especially going into the dry season.
“There’s always going to be a storm that goes beyond what your design standard is,” Deputy Manatee County Administrator Evan Pilachowski said. So, if we have another event, if we have a 54-inch rainfall event, yes we’re going to have flooding. There’s simply no way to prevent that with the infrastructure that has been built.”
Residents downstream blame the release of water from the dam, the timing, and what was communicated to those affected.
“The river was backing up on itself, but it was not backing up because of a contribution of the Manatee River,” Hunsicker said.
Maps showing the water flow from every watershed in the county have not been updated since the early 1980s.
Many in the community also blame the county leadership for continuing to approve more and more development.
“I think that’s certainly a conversation that the commissioners will be having when we get to a COMP plan amendment so it’s certainly something they’ll be looking at,”
“There’s always going to be a storm that goes beyond what your design standard is. So, if we have another event, if we have a 54-inch rainfall event, yes we’re going to have flooding. There’s simply no way to prevent that with the infrastructure that has been built.”
During Debby the dam’s emergency spillway was opened because one of three gates on the primary spillway is not functioning and being worked on as part of ongoing maintenance.
Maintenance is normally not done during the rainy and hurricane seasons, but staff say it was because of supply issues.
“When it comes down to another major rainfall event, we can’t prevent the rain from falling,” Pilachowski said. “We can certainly improve communications to residents about where we expect to see impacts.”
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