Lake Seward basin soon to receive permanent pipeline following Milton

POLK COUNTY, Fla. — More than a year after Hurricane Milton, work will soon begin to help prevent future flooding near the Lake Seward basin. 

Several inches of water filled the dry basin in October 2024, causing it to overflow. Recently, Polk County commissioners approved the next phase of a project aimed at mitigating the issue.

Much has changed on Oakmont Lane since Spectrum Bay News 9 first visited Jarrod Smith’s home following Milton.

“Soon as the water cleared, we started getting some elevation changes and some drainage corrected to prevent it from happening again,” he said.

Smith, who lives close to the Lake Seward basin, says thousands of dollars in repair costs and improvements came out of his own pocket. After runoff from the storm filled the basin, his property was submerged under water. Polk County later brought in emergency pipes to clear the area.

“To get it out of streets and people’s houses, and that probably took about a month and a half or so to,” Smith said.

To help prevent future flooding, county leaders approved a consultant services agreement for the design of the Lake Seward Outfall Drainage Improvement Project. The $1 million project will bring in a permanent pipeline, but Roads and Drainage Director Jay Jarvis says it is still not a permanent solution.

“None of these systems that we put in place are end all be all fixes. There’s no way because we never know how much rain we’re going to get in a period of time. We never know what’s going to be happening downstream and those conditions, which controls what we can and cannot do,” Jarvis said. “This is a good thing because when we do get authorization to go pump, it should be quicker and faster to get that accomplished.”

As for Smith, he says he is grateful but encourages leaders to continue looking for a long-term fix — one he would like to see include stricter development guidelines.

“We’re condensing that natural space where the water needs to go into a lot smaller area,” Smith said.

He and his neighbors believe that is at the heart of the problem.

Construction for the pipeline is expected to be complete by 2027. Jarvis says the project would have gotten underway much sooner, but the county first needed the funding.