Hillsborough to spend $70M on stormwater drainage improvements

Hillsborough County will soon move forward with $70 million in drainage projects meant to prevent or minimize flooding for more than half a million residents across the county. 

County commissioners approved the projects Wednesday, which come in addition to $9 million in planned drainage work approved earlier this year, according to a release. Funding for the flood protection and resiliency projects, dubbed “Rebuilding for Tomorrow," comes from a $709 million disaster recovery federal grant received after hurricanes Helene and Milton caused unprecedented damage to the region in 2024, the release says. 

About half of that funding will go toward projects to repair damage the storm caused to roads, canals, culverts, pump stations, wastewater lift stations and other public systems, as well as for projects that will improve the area’s future storm resilience. The bulk of the remaining federal grant money will be used for programs that help residents whose homes were damaged by the storms. 

Of the $70 million set aside for Rebuilding for Tomorrow projects, roughly $42 million will be used to clean and restore ditches and drains throughout the county and $18 million will fund effort to make wastewater lift stations less likely to fail during future flooding, typically by adding backup generators to keep them running if power is cut off, the release says. 

Just over $7.34 million will fund drainage improvements and $1.8 million will be spent on culvert replacements. The $9 million in projects approved earlier this year will improve drainage in specific neighborhoods. 

Overall, the projects are designed to help prevent or limit flooding by adding capacity to the county’s drainage systems and by reducing the possibility that water or wastewater lift systems fail due to power outages during strong storms, the release says. Specific infrastructure projects funded by the grant include:

• Stormwater system restoration
• 171 wastewater lift station resiliency projects throughout the county 
• Countywide culvert renewal 
• Five culvert repair and replacement projects
• Four channel restoration projects
• Shangri-La permanent stormwater pump station
• Jackson Springs drainage improvements
• Seffner/Mango drainage improvements
• North Ola Avenue drainage improvements
• University Area drainage improvements 
• Front Street, Valrico drainage improvements
• Town ‘N Country regional drainage improvements (Lower Sweetwater Creek Watershed)
• Casey Road at Lowell Road drainage improvements 
• Falkenburg-Six Mile Creek Road drainage improvements
• Canal Street drainage improvements

Hurricanes Helene and Milton caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage but affected Hillsborough County in different ways, the release says. Hurricane Helene in late September 2024 brought the strongest storm surge the region has seen in decades, causing major flooding along the coasts and rivers. Then, in early October 2024, Hurricane Milton arrived with hurricane-force winds, as much as 15 inches of rain, and widespread flooding, including in inland neighborhoods that had seldom experienced flooding before. 

Planning has already begun for the projects approved by commissioners on Wednesday, the release says, with work on most infrastructure projects expected to start later this year.