Hillsborough County recorded nearly a quarter of the area’s expected rainfall in a 24-hour period during Hurricane Milton last fall.
But Josh Bellotti, director of the county’s Engineering and Operations Department, said Hillsborough's stormwater system simply can’t accommodate that much water.
“No stormwater system anywhere is built to withstand an event like that,” Bellotti said.
Black & Veatch, an independent consulting company, spent months interviewing residents and evaluating the stormwater systems in Hillsborough.
Last week, it presented its findings and recommendations to county commissioners.
Those recommendations included updating flood map models and increasing communication with local agencies.
Jon Dinges, Black & Veatch’s regional water resources lead, agreed in the meeting that it is unreasonable for a county to have a system that can manage this much unexpected water.
“We would have very tiny houses and very big ditches, so it wouldn’t work very well,” Dinges said.
But Bellotti said there are still improvements the county plans to reduce the risk major stormwater events pose.
“There’s a lot of infrastructure built around the county that is older,” he said. “So a lot of the focus that we put on improving our system is to enhance older infrastructure and help it to meet what are the current standards.”
There are 1,300 miles of pipes that support Hillsborough's stormwater system. Bellotti said the county identified 500 projects that need to be completed.
“That’s part of a backlog of capital investment that we look to make,” he said.
The issue is funding, or lack thereof.
Hillsborough’s stormwater fee is among the lowest in the state, an average of $86 a year. With a $131 million funding gap, Bellotti said the ad valorem fee might need to be adjusted. But the county still needs to take a closer look at how that would change.
He added the county is looking toward state and federal grants to add to its budget. Despite DOGE efforts being in full swing in Florida and at a national level, Bellotti said the county is forging ahead with the funds it has and planning to continue to tap into grant money.
Black & Veatch also analyzed inland flooding and areas not included in FEMA flood zones. The county’s Watershed Management Master Plans includes a higher-resolution view of the areas that may be prone to flooding, and that information is being distributed to residents.
Bellotti said getting this data to people is one of the ways Hillsborough is improving its outreach.
He also urged residents to sign up for emergency notifications and get flood insurance.
The Black & Veatch report also suggested working with adjacent counties and cities to share resources and consolidate efforts during a storm.
“Water doesn't know where the city boundaries are,” Bellotti said. “It’s going to flow across those so we know that we need to coordinate closer and work together with our partners in the cities.”
He did not say if he was worried about stretching resources too thin with additional partnerships but indicated the county would “look at it from a cost-benefit standpoint.”
