Posted on February 28, 2025
SARASOTA, Fla. — After historic flooding left entire neighborhoods submerged underwater, Sarasota County appears to be moving closer to solution-oriented action.
Commissioners are backing a $75 million plan to dredge critical waterways, including Phillippi Creek, to mitigate future disasters. County staff presented the dredging plan at a public meeting on Tuesday.
Runoff from Sarasota’s urban areas drains into the Phillippi Creek basin, and as storms grow more intense, residents say the water is increasingly encroaching on their homes. The extreme weather has left many of them grappling with severe water damage more frequently than they care to. For many, the urgency of dredging the creek cannot be overstated.
“For Debbie, the water was actually up to here. It was probably two feet above this bridge, and it was over the Tuttle Bridge too,” David Scott, organizer of the Phillippi Creek Neighbors Facebook Group, said.
The impact, specifically, of last year’s storms was widespread. Hurricanes and other severe weather events overwhelmed drainage systems, inundating homes in neighborhoods such as Gulf Gate, Pinecraft and Laurel Meadows. Scott recalled how close the flooding came to his property.
“It came inches from getting to my home. Thankfully, we were OK, but my parents live across the street, and they were not so lucky — about five to six inches of water in their home,” he said.
For longtime residents, the creek was once a source of recreation. Scott reminisced about a time when the water was deep enough for boating and waterskiing, even at low tide. But, decades of sediment buildup have drastically changed the waterway.
“It’s full of sand and silt. The last time it was dredged was in 2000 or 2001, and they stopped at the Tuttle Bridge, which was really a mistake,” Scott said. “They should have continued all the way to Pinecraft — and really, all the way to the Celery Fields.”
The Sarasota County Commission favored the $75 million dredging plan for waterways in both the county and city jurisdictions, using federal “Resilient SRQ” funds allocated for flood mitigation.
“I’m hoping that we have some funds somewhere in the stormwater budget to get the worst areas — maybe even start in the middle — just to make sure we can get it flowing to some capacity,” Sarasota County Commissioner Mark Smith said.
Public Works Director Spencer Anderson acknowledged that dredging the entire creek may not be feasible immediately but suggested targeted action.
“There may be alternatives where we know that there are heavy deposits of siltation or sediments in certain areas,” Anderson said. “We might be able to address those on a spot basis and relieve those specific areas.”
Residents are pushing for swift action because they say another storm season without proper mitigation could mean a repeat of the devastation just recently experienced in the last season.
“The best time to plant a tree is yesterday,” Scott said. “And if we can’t get it dredged for this season, we need to get it dredged for next season.”
The proposal will now undergo a 30-day public comment period before returning to the board for final approval and submission to the federal government. If approved, millions in federal aid will be allocated to clear the waterways, a long-awaited effort to protect flood-prone communities from future storms.
