The Southwest Florida Water Management District is making repairs to its Tampa Bypass Canal ahead of this year’s storm season.
The 15.7-mile canal diverts water from the Hillsborough River around Tampa and Temple Terrace to prevent “catastrophic” flooding, Operations Bureau Chief Jerry Mallams said.
During Hurricane Milton, the canal diverted 7.2 billion gallons of floodwater a day, more than twice as much as it did during Hurricane Irma.
Mallams said this left the canal with some minor damage that the district is trying to repair before the June 1 start of the hurricane season.
“The design is what they would refer to as 125% of a 100-year storm event,” Mallam said.
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Mallams said some of the damage includes broken culverts and lift systems. However, he said, even while the team was making the repairs, they had alternative ways for the canal to work in case they needed it.
"We have to be ready at any time that a tropical storm or high rain event will hit the area,” Mallams said.
One of the repairs the team has not yet gotten to is the erosion caused by how much water the canal handled last fall.
But Mallams added that this is not a critical repair and can wait to be made until the next dry season.
"Whether or not we can work on the erosion during our rainy season is really going to depend on Mother Nature,” Mallams said. “And if there's a lot of water moving through that system, it's just going to make the repair effort more challenging."
To address the erosion, engineers will use a geophysical analysis tool to map the bottom of the canal and identify problem areas.
He said the repairs to the canal cost around $1 million, but are a part of a larger project.
“Making our structures resilient to climate change and sea level rise is another priority for the Water Management District,” he said.
The district also repaired Structure S-160, a gated spillway in southeast Tampa that maintains water levels in the canal.
They replaced damaged concrete that resulted in rebar erosion and reinforced the structure to withstand rising sea levels.
The cathodic protection system will protect the rebar from saltwater by having anodes that attract the corrosive part of the water away from the rebar, Mallams said.
Repairing damage sustained during both Hurricanes Helene and Milton cost roughly $4.7 million, funded by ad valorem taxes and a $1.2 million grant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
The district received this funding in January, allowing it to begin repairs months before the start of hurricane season.
