Manatee spent $6 million to fix beach parking lot flooding. Did it really work?
Despite investing $6 million on flooding improvements, heavy rainfall flooded the Coquina Beach parking lot Wednesday evening, forcing it to close.
The south end of the Coquina Beach parking lot closed due to excessive rainfall, six years after the county replaced the lot with improved drainage infrastructure that was supposed to fix the issue. Manatee County Government announced the closure via social media Thursday morning.
The lot reopened later Thursday afternoon, according to Manatee County Government.
Before the upgrades, flooding at Coquina Beach was a problem for the county’s tourism and residents, according to the Bradenton Herald previously reported. The area would sometimes experience flooding of 6 to 18 inches during heavy rainfalls.
Former Manatee County Commissioner and current Holmes Beach Commissioner Carol Whitmore previously described the old Coquina Beach lot as “a lake every time it rains.”
In 2020, the county replaced the dirt parking lot with a pervious concrete surface that allows water to drain through the surface, unlike traditional concrete. The parking lot was also striped and marked to improve traffic flow.
“Before the 2020 improvements, similar rain events would often leave portions of the lot flooded for days, requiring extended closures,” Ogden Clark, a county spokesperson, said in an email to the Bradenton Herald. “Although heavy downpours can still cause temporary flooding, the duration of standing water and associated closures has been substantially reduced as a result of the drainage improvements.”
However, according to Clark, Wednesday night’s rain was enough to flood the lot, even with the improved drainage. The area received about 2.5 inches of rain in less than an hour, with the 24-hour rainfall totals around 3.2 to 3.4 inches.
“Rainfall of this intensity can temporarily overwhelm even improved drainage infrastructure, leading to short-term standing water in the parking lot,” Clark said.
