TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Swiftmud To Discuss Floodplains

ADVERTISEMENT

By KEVIN WIATROWSKI

kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com

Published: March 15, 2009

WESLEY CHAPEL - People living in the heart of one of Pasco County's fastest-growing regions will soon know whether they'll need flood insurance.

Swiftmud, the Southwest Florida Water Management District, is revising the decades-old floodplain maps underpinning years of growth in the Cypress Creek and Trout Creek watersheds. Together, those watersheds encompass the bulk of Wesley Chapel, from Quail Hollow to Meadow Pointe.

A watershed is an area where all the rainfall feeds a specific water body. A floodplain is the land within the watershed that is flooded when the river, creek or lake rises.

The largest floodplain is a 100-year floodplain, for example, that shows which land has a 1 percent chance of flooding in any given year.

The new maps are built on laser-based aerial surveys conducted in 2004. The flyover surveys created a precise measure of the land's elevation, accounting for development-related changes since previous maps were drawn in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

The new measurements mean some people could see their property shifted into or out of flood zones, Swiftmud officials have said.

Swiftmud will host public meetings Wednesday and March 25 to review the new floodplains with residents and to help people determine whether their property lies within the 100-year floodplain.

Swiftmud held a similar meeting in January for residents of two floodplains in Zephyrhills.

The Wednesday meeting will focus on the Cypress Creek watershed, which takes in much of east-central Pasco. The watershed starts in the Blanton area and straddles Interstate 75 as it moves south, eventually taking in land between the interstate and U.S. 41 in southern Pasco.

It includes some of Wesley Chapel's oldest communities, such as Angus Valley and Quail Hollow, as well as some of its newest.

Wednesday's meeting is from 4 to 6:30 p.m. at Wesley Chapel High School, 30651 Wells Road, between Curley Road and Boyette Road.

The March 25 meeting will focus on Trout Creek, a smaller watershed centered east of I-75 and south of State Road 54. Trout Creek includes much of the sprawling Meadow Pointe community, as well as Seven Oaks, Northwood, Williamsburg and parts of Wiregrass Ranch.

The Trout Creek meeting is from 4 to 6:30 p.m. at Wiregrass High School, 2909 Mansfield Blvd.

Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 948-4201.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT