Six inches of rain led to further water discharge from Lake Manatee
Flooding in the Parrish area after water was diverted from Lake Manatee
Footage of flooding in the Parrish area captured by local resident Chris Whittaker following a release of water from Lake Manatee during Tropical Storm Debby.
Manatee County again released water from Lake Manatee during a storm Wednesday evening, this time after only 6 inches of rain.
Manatee County residents have expressed frustration in the weeks since historic rainfall during Tropical Storm Debby forced the outflow of Lake Manatee and flooded homes in surrounding neighborhoods. Manatee County announced Wednesday night that it would begin releasing water from the dam again.
County officials also took the opportunity to vote unanimously to extend the local state of emergency due to Tropical Storm Debby for another week.
In case you missed it: Debby destroys homes, residents criticize county officials for releasing water from Lake Manatee
Previously: Residents flooded by water discharge in Manatee County in response to Debby
Water discharge impacts Manatee County residents
The county posted on social media that the levee was not intended to prevent flooding and that they were aware of the impacts to surrounding homes. Shortly afterward, Manatee County made another social media post saying that Waterline Road would be closed due to flooding in the area.
“Manatee County Utilities are managing Lake Manatee water levels following another significant rain event. Approximately six inches of rain fell in about an hour,” the county said on social media.
“It is important to note that the dam was not designed as, nor does it function as, flood control,” they said. “At this time, the county continues to monitor flow rates and the potential for additional rainfall and will notify downstream areas accordingly.”
Deputy County Administrator Evan Pilachowski addressed the situation during a public county meeting on Thursday, saying at least 14 surrounding properties were affected.
District wants to learn from its mistakes
Pilachowski told county commissioners that staff would look into ways to better manage water levels and communicate with residents. He also used the opportunity to dismiss reports from other media outlets that there was a risk of the dam breaking.
“The dam in Lake Manatee continues to operate as designed, its structure is intact and there is no danger of the dam failing. I just want to make sure that is very clear,” Pilachowski said.
More: Manatee County extends state of emergency and investigates water release from Lake Manatee
“Since Hurricane Debby came through, we’ve kept the secondary spillway at 38 feet,” he said. “That essentially means that any inflow into the lake is flowing through with no available storage capacity, so the inflow into the lake and the outflow out of the lake are equal. It’s just a situation where we don’t have any way to store additional water in Lake Manatee.”
He said the county may lower the lake’s water level below 38 feet to give more time to notify residents if water levels rise. He said the decision was prudent, even though water has already been released from the dam twice this month on short notice.
