Pinellas Backs Study to Replace Aging Lake Tarpon Flood Gate

The gate that has controlled Lake Tarpon's water level since 1969 is getting a hard look. The Pinellas County Commission has voted to move forward with a study on replacing the aging canal and outfall structure that keeps the Palm Harbor lake from flooding its shoreline, and from turning salty.

The vote builds on a letter of support commissioners sent in August backing a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers feasibility study of the structure, the lake's only surface outlet to Old Tampa Bay. The Southwest Florida Water Management District has already committed $1.5 million toward that study. The county is hoping to match it with federal money, but that piece depends on Congress signing off on the Army Corps' involvement.

Commissioner Kathleen Peters said the structure was never built for the storms hitting the county now.

"It's critical infrastructure that we really need to update," Peters said. "That gate for Lake Tarpon is very old. It was designed in 1969. SWIFTMUD started operating in the 70s. But with all the development and things that have changed with the environment over the years, that is an aging gate and it protects Lake Tarpon."

The problem showed up directly during Tropical Storm Debby, when the area got 12 to 14 inches of rain in a single day and crews were not able to open the floodgates. Water climbed over seawalls and docks in some spots along the lake.

A lake worth protecting

Peters framed Lake Tarpon as more than a flood risk to manage. She called it "a wonderful gem of an asset" for the county, pointing to some of the best bass fishing in Florida and its potential role as a future source of drinking water. Keeping brackish water from Tampa Bay out of the freshwater lake matters for both, she said.

Cynthia Kowalski has lived on Lake Tarpon for 16 years and has ridden out hurricanes Irma and Milton there. She lost part of her roof in Irma and dealt with a heavy load of seagrass after Milton, but has not seen major flooding at her own property. She still backs the upgrade.

"I think that's probably a good idea," Kowalski said. "I think there are things that need to be done to prevent flooding in the area."

No timeline has been set for when the Army Corps study itself would begin, and the county has not released a cost estimate for an eventual replacement or upgrade of the structure. Those details will depend on congressional action on the matching funds and on what the study finds once it gets underway.

For lakefront residents in Palm Harbor, the coming months mean watching Washington almost as closely as the weather. Whatever the Army Corps study ultimately recommends, for a gate built when disco was new and Tampa Bay's coastline looked very different, will shape flood protection and water security for the area for decades.

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Header photo: Gbklyn / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)