‘It should have been dredged years ago’: Residents hope new Philippi Creek project addresses flooding concerns

SARASOTA, Fla. (WFTS) — For Tom Webb, who lives in the Laurel Meadows neighborhood, flooding isn’t just a distant worry; it’s personal. When Hurricane Debby hit last year, the water that should have drained through Philippi Creek and its extensions instead filled his home.

“We didn’t get flooded by the rain,” he explained. “We got flooded by Rothenbach Park. There was a breach in the Cowpen dike, and that allowed Rothenbach Park to flood. But Rothenbach’s got multiple drainage paths, and those weren’t properly maintained either.”

WATCH: ‘It should have been dredged years ago’: Residents hope new Philippi Creek project addresses flooding concerns

Over the summer, Tampa Bay 28 discussed the flooding during the storm with Sarasota County. This is how Spencer Anderson explained what happened to Laurel Meadows.

"Because Debby brought so much rain, and we had an additional contributing factor of the berm that separates Cowpens Slough from Phillippi Creek, and the levels of Cowpens Slough breaching through that berm that is directly connected to the Laurel Meadows neighborhood, that is a major contributing factor to the flooding that was experienced," he explained.

The creek system that runs through this part of Sarasota County is a complicated web of canals and ditches that rely on gravity to move stormwater. It's a system Webb said has almost no slope to help it along.

“A lot of the drainage in this area is basically a gravity drain only,” he said. “We’re at about 22.5 feet above sea level where it starts, and from there down to the Gulf, that’s a small drop. So they count on the height of the water to build a bigger slope to make it move faster. But ours is almost a zero gradient.”

That minimal slope means even small blockages can have major consequences.

“When you start seeing sandbars in the middle of what’s supposed to be a creek,” Webb said, “you know the water flow isn’t going to be adequate.”

Now, after more than a year of recovery and frustration, the county is preparing to move forward with a major dredging effort. One that residents hope will finally relieve decades of drainage issues.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued Sarasota County its long-anticipated permit on October 8, authorizing work along nearly 9,000 linear feet of Philippe Creek, from Tuttle Avenue north and east to Beneva Road.

According to the permit, workers will dredge the creek to four feet below mean low water, removing more than 49,000 cubic yards of sediment, roughly enough to fill 15 Olympic-sized swimming pools. The project will use a shallow barge to transport material to upland containment sites where it will dry before being hauled to the Sarasota County landfill or used in county roadway expansion projects.

The work will unfold under strict environmental safeguards, including floating turbidity barriers to prevent sediment runoff and special conditions protecting manatees and any potential archaeological finds.

The permit also requires the county to submit “as-built” engineering certifications once the work is complete and to maintain all dredged areas in good condition to prevent future buildup.

At a recent county commission meeting, Ben Quartermaine, Sarasota County’s new stormwater director, said the federal approval was the final hurdle before construction begins.

“We’re awaiting the Army Corps permit, which is essentially just a check-the-box type of thing,” Quartermaine told commissioners before the permit was formally issued. “Within the next four to six weeks, we should see dirt turning in the dredge portion.”

Quartermaine said the county is launching a new Sediment Management and Abatement Program to prevent similar blockages in other tidal creeks.

“We’re utilizing our own staff to analyze all of the tidal creeks within the county,” he said. “We’re making sure sedimentation issues like those in Philippe Creek don’t happen elsewhere.”

He emphasized that keeping water off evacuation routes and out of homes remains the top priority.

For residents like Webb, the dredging can’t come soon enough.

“It’s one step closer to having everything working the way it was designed years ago,” he said. “With the lack of maintenance and all the buildup, these canals are just filled with dirt and debris and can’t drain like they’re supposed to.”

Webb said he believes county neglect played a major role in last year’s flooding.

“Things happen,” he said, “but we pay a tax in this area to have all those serviced and maintained properly.”

Fourteen months later, Webb’s home is still being rebuilt.

“We spent the first six months not doing anything,” he said. “We had the house mucked out and everything cut up to four feet. At first, we were going to sell, but the market dropped. So we decided to fix it up.”

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Repairs have been slow and personal.

“We put sheetrock back up, started painting, got some help from our son,” he said. “But then I had a medical issue, so we had to hire people to finish. Hopefully in two weeks we’re done.”

Even with flood insurance, the expenses keep coming. “We have nine hurricane-rated French doors. That’s $60,000 worth of doors,” he said. “We tried to save what we could, like the countertops. You do what you can.”

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During the same county meeting, Commissioner Teresa Mast thanked Quartermaine and his team for restoring confidence among residents.

“What has been significant in capturing back the trust of our citizens is that continual transparency,” she said. “Thank you for the commitment you’ve made to our community.”

Quartermaine said his office has been meeting regularly with homeowners’ associations and local coalitions across the county.

“It’s been a good symbiotic relationship,” he said. “Every meeting I go to has been really wonderful.”

For Webb, trust will only be rebuilt when the work begins and when he sees that it lasts.

“Seeing it actually happening. That’s what it’ll take,” he said. “They’ve put a new guy in charge, which is good, but it’s about following through.”

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The Army Corps permit (No. SAJ-2025-01036) gives Sarasota County until October 2028 to complete the project, with requirements to maintain dredged areas and submit environmental reports.

For residents who’ve endured flooding, mold, and months of reconstruction, that timeline can’t move fast enough.

“It’s like your bathtub drain,” Webb said. “It still drains, but not like it should. And we’ve all been living with that slow drain for way too long.”