The Southwest Florida Water Management District and the City of Anna Maria are moving forward on a project that will reduce flooding and improve water quality.
The project involves the design, permitting and construction of retention swales, inlet controls structures and baffle structures for three drainage basins.
The three drainage basins are the North Bay/Tarpon Basin, the North Shore/Jacaranda Basin, and the South Drive/South Bay Area. Together, these three basins are approximately 70 acres. They drain into the internal canals of Anna Maria.
The retention swales are expected to treat stormwater runoff through percolation and evaporation and the baffles are expected to provide treatment through sedimentation and skimming, thus reducing the overall pollutant loadings to the man-made canal system, Anna Maria Sound, Sarasota Bay and Tampa Bay. Both Sarasota Bay and Tampa Bay are classified as Surface Water Improvement and Management (SWIM) program priority water bodies and National Estuary Program water bodies.
The swales will also increase the storage and conveyance capacity of the city’s existing drainage system, which will reduce flooding. Additional storage is needed because the basin outfall structures are influenced by tidal conditions. The additional storage will help contain stormwater runoff during high tide conditions.
This project is expected to cost $539,000. Funding will be divided between the City of Anna Maria and the Districts Manasota Basin Board. District funding will be shared by the District’s Manasota Basin Board and the state SWIM program.
The project is expected to be complete by December 2010.