TAMPA, Fla. — Crews have completed maintenance on the Tampa Bypass Canal, a structure responsible for preventing flooding in Tampa and Temple Terrace.
- Facility built in the 1970s
- Facility diverts water to retention bay, then canal to the bay
- Heavily used during Hurricane Irma
The canal, or TPC, was build in the 1970s in response to Hurricane Donna, which caused the Tampa and Temple Terrace areas to flood when the storm dumped days of rain on the region in 1960.
That rain, in turn, caused the Hillsborough River to overflow, leaving communities water-logged for days.
The facility was in heavy use during Hurricane Irma's presence in the Bay area in 2018. During Irma, the TPC diverted thousands of gallons of water from the Hillsborough River into a retention area before funneling it through the canal and into Tampa Bay.
"During Hurricane Irma a year ago, we diverted around 7,000 cubic feet per second around the cities to protect them from river flooding," said Jerry Mallams, operations bureau chief for the Southwest Water Management District.
The canal's important role mandates regular monitoring and maintenance.
"We have scheduled maintenance where we're always checking hydraulics, the operating mechanism, the lift mechanisms, the control points," said operations manager Mike Bartlett.
With this most recent scheduled maintenance complete, Mallams says the TPC is in "a state of readiness" and could be activated at any time if heavy rains come in the area.