Lakeland officials are moving forward with a watershed study that might offer some insight into why Hurricane Milton flooded some Lake Bonny residents out of their homes.
City manager Shawn Sherrouse said the city has received a quote of approximately $80,000 to $85,000 for a study of Lake Bonny’s entire watershed, from north of Lake Gibson south to Lake Hancock and the Peace River.
“It’s pretty obvious if we’re only studying that pump, it’s only one symptom of a much larger disease,” the city manager said. “In this case, you are talking about a scenario like COVID. COVID, hopefully, was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
Sherrouse said city staff has been talking with AECOM, a multinational infrastructure consulting firm with offices in Southwest Lakeland, about performing a third-party evaluation of the watershed. Lakeland, Polk County, and the Southwest Florida Water Management District, often called Swiftmud, met on Jan. 8 and agreed this is the course of action they want to take.
“From that, we should be able to determine multiple different projects and things to address some of the concerns with Lake Bonny,” Sherrouse said.
Polk County Manager Bill Beasley will be sending a letter of commitment as Polk has offered to pay for a portion of the study, Sherrouse said. He said the study’s cost falls within his administration’s spending without requiring formal approval from the commission.
“I am assured of their commitment. We will be moving forward,” Sherrouse said.
AECOM has estimated it could complete the study within four to six months, Sherrouse said.