ECWCD clearing debris from water control structures

East County Water Control District (ECWCD) has felt the effects of an active early wet season with an average of 10 inches of rain throughout the district from June 26 to July 5. Weather forecasters are predicting more rain this week. There was somewhat of a reprieve this past Friday and Saturday.

ECWCD experienced the heaviest rainfall in the middle of the District near Able Canal and has recorded a 10-day total of 14.5 inches of rain near Homestead Road and Lee Boulevard, said Carla Ulakovic, a community project specialist with the District.

Several areas experienced localized street flooding and as water levels raised out of the canals’ banks for a brief time, she said.

Just when the ECWCD thought the tropical moisture had passed, it brought additional rain. The District felt the heaviest effects of the rain on July 5 near Harns Marsh – the District’s largest retention/detention area.

According to ECWCD District Manager Dave Lindsay, Harns Marsh approached its storage capacity and is now starting to recede.

High water in canals

Some ECWCD staff had been pulled from normal duties to work on alleviating flooding and to ensure the safety of the District residents.

A team of field staff continues to work to clear aquatic foliage from the water control structures throughout the district to ensure that the water can flow freely while staff continues to monitor the structures, Lindsay said.

The 10-day rain storm has left an impact both in and out of District boundaries because all of ECWCD’s water flows through the District’s four major outfalls – Bedman Creek, Hickey Creek, Orange River and Carlos Waterway before heading to the Caloosahatchee River,” Ulakovic said.

According to Lindsay, the district is short on water storage areas and the retention areas it does have are mostly full.

District staff and residents have seen some street flooding and some areas in which canals are at capacity. In heavy rain events it is important that the stormwater can flow freely through Lee County Department of Transportation’s (DOT) road ditches into ECWCD canals, lakes and retention areas, Lindsay said.

More scenes of high water

Lee County DOT is responsible for maintaining roadways and road ditches and ECWCD is responsible for maintaining the 311 miles of canals, 20 lakes, 360 culvert crossings, 22 bridges and 66 water control structures within its boundaries. The District encompasses 70,000 acres of eastern Lee County and the western portion of Hendry

County within this acreage ECWCD maintains 1298 preserve acres including the 578 acres of Harns Marsh.

Through the vast 70,000-acre plus District, ECWCD water level monitoring technicians are able to remotely access rain data and control structures using computer telemetry and radio based telemetry, Lindsay said.

This allows the District to constantly monitor water levels to determine how to move water through its system. Gates on water control structures throughout district can be remotely open and shut on structures built within the

last 10 years.

Abel Canal a few days after water is lowered

“As of this morning, water levels are receding, but our canal system needs time to recover,” said Lindsay a few days ago.”