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State Chips In $500,000 For Canal Project

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By GEORGE H. NEWMAN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 6, 2008

PLANT CITY - The city has learned that a stormwater project designed to improve the Eastside Canal received partial funding from the state when Gov. Charlie Crist approved the 2008-09 budget last month.

The Eastside Canal Stormwater Management Master Plan is an ongoing $6.5 million improvement to the stormwater system that is vital to the flood protection on the east side of town, city officials said.

The $500,000 recently approved by the state will help continue the stormwater project, said Willie Nabong, the city's director of public works.

The city previously received $700,000 from the Southwest Florida Water Management District in its 2007 budget to help fund the project. Another $700,000 from Swiftmud is expected within its 2009 budget under a separate funding agreement. The addition of $500,000 from the state, plus some matching funds from the city, will allow the latest phase of construction to begin in October.

"Several steps have been and will be taken to make the Eastside Canal more responsive to stormwater runoff," Nabong said. "Significant improvement was made with the completion of Sam Cooper Lake a $2.9 million project in October 2005. More improvements are in the design and planning stages. But we expect to begin construction in earnest in the fall."

The Eastside Canal serves a drainage basin that comprises about 9.8 square miles. The properties in the basin are bound by East Alexander Street on the south, Collins Street/James L. Redman Parkway on the west, Knights-Griffin Road on the north and North Wilder Road and Park Road on the east.

The canal is a natural waterway officially known as Water Oak Branch. It originates in a depression/wetland between East Alexander Street and East Park Road. Despite developments such as Walden Woods and a commercial complex in the area, natural wetlands were preserved. During periods of high rainfall, area retention ponds overflow into the wetlands. The natural elevation carries the water that accumulates there to the north.

The canal flows north of the city and connects with a natural treatment system at the city-owned McIntosh Park near Knights-Griffin Road. From there the stormwater flows into Itchepackesassa Creek and then Blackwater Creek, which eventually joins the Hillsborough River, south of Zephyrhills, near U.S. 301.

The next phase of the stormwater improvement plan would include replacing bridges and culverts at Tomlin Street and Gilchrist Street/Pennsylvania Avenue.

"The existing structures are undersized and are reaching the end of their service lives," Nabong said, echoing the findings from a 2001 study completed for the city by Professional Engineering Consultants of Tampa.

Tatyana Austin, the city's senior staff engineer for public works, said the canal channel will be modified to carry more water.

"Plans call for the canal bottom to be widened to 25 feet from Reynolds Street to Gilchrist Street," Austin said.

"The removal of sediment and the improved infrastructure will move water out of the city during storm events faster than we can today," Austin said. "Unfortunately the city can only do the projects one at a time. It all depends on funding."

The city recently purchased property between the CSX rail line and Reynolds Street, south of the Hillsborough County Courthouse. The purchase gives the city an opportunity to take the canal underground from Reynolds to Baker Street.

"We have an agreement with Hillsborough County that will help finance an enlarged underground culvert there," Nabong said. "That would allow the county to expand its parking lot where the open canal now stands."

It's not clear how much of the stormwater improvements can be made with the current budget. The city will place the work out for bids by the end of July, Nabong said.

More work is planed for Laura Street and its related culverts and stormwater drains. That portion of the master plan will raise the elevation of Laura Street by one foot from Allen Street west to Lake Street. Culverts in the canal at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Laura Street will be replaced with larger versions of an improved design.

Reporter George H. Newman can be reached at (813) 865-4451 or gnewman@tampatrib.com.

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