Water-Related News

Lee County eyes stronger Mullock Creek flood control

East Mullock Water Control District, home to 17 miles of canals, creeks and ditches, many of which failed during the rainy summer of 2017 and the hurricane that followed, could be headed on a fast track to clean-up.

Mullock Creek drains stormwater, much of it from San Carlos Park, into Estero Bay. In 2017, water that fell during an especially rainy August and during Hurricane Irma in September when drainage pathways were overwhelmed, causing dramatic flooding.

"We have conveyances that probably are not doing the work they were intended for," said Assistant Lee County Manager Glen Salyer during a county commission workshop session Tuesday.

A reorganization of the district, the second in as many years, is touted as a way to more effectively drain water that has fewer routes to escape to Estero Bay after years of development of more than 2,200 acres of land nearby.