Posted on May 1, 2026
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A dredger began pulling sediment from the bottom of Bartlett Lake in St. Petersburg last Thursday to create better flow to Tampa Bay and more storage volume for floodwater, according to Engineering and Capital Improvements Director Brejesh Prayman.
“We’re looking at about 23,000 cubic yards of material we’re going to be pulling out of this lake. That gives us substantial storage volume,” he said. “That’s about 2,000 truckloads of material.”
Prayman said the dredge project costs $3.5 million and is completely paid for with state and federal grants. It’s the first step in a much larger Basin C Resiliency Salt Creek stormwater improvement project, which totals more than $48.5 million and will take a couple of years to complete.
“This is part of the city’s and the mayor’s initiative for SPAR, St. Pete Agile Resilience,” said Prayman. “The next step in the process is the stormwater pump station.”
The project is expected to provide mitigation against storm flooding in the Bartlett and Lake Maggiore neighborhoods, which residents experienced in 2024 with hurricanes Helene and Milton. Prayman said enough sediment was pulled from the lake in just a few days to fill more than a half dozen giant storage bladders.
“The dredger is actually extracting that material, pumping it to the sediment control systems, which is separating the sediment from the water itself,” he said. “This is allowing the dredge material to be dried out and clean water actually filtering out.”
The city was concerned that the sediment would contain high levels of lead and arsenic, which would have to be incinerated at the Pinellas County Solid Waste Disposal Complex or hauled away to a specialized landfill in Alabama. Prayman said test results show low levels so far, which can be disposed of in Manatee County and saves the city money.
“As we extracted the material, we are testing that material at the same time. So the material as it’s coming out right now is at a level that it can be trucked to a landfill site,” he said. “It’s going south of the bridge, in the Palmetto area, into a designated and a permitted disposal site.”
Prayman said, weather permitting, he expects the dredge project to wrap up by early October. The other upcoming Basin C projects include Salt Creek channel improvements, a tidal control structure and Lake Maggiore wet weather stormwater bypass.
