'Tons of debris' removed from Braden River

In preparation for this year’s hurricane season, which starts June 1, clean up on the Braden River has begun. 

The initial results are shocking to some residents. 

“I never knew the Braden River was that big and wide,” Summerfield Woods’ Jill Sauchinitz said. “It’s almost as wide as our street.”

Sauchinitz’ home flooded after Hurricane Debby on Aug. 5. For months on end, she complained to Manatee County that she couldn’t see through the vegetation to the bottom of the river. 

Commissioners approved $2 million on March 25 to clean up portions of the Braden River, Buffalo Canal, Cabbage Slough and Gamble Creek with the goal of freeing up water flow that might otherwise back up and flood.

The overall work started April 7. Work on the Braden River started May 10, which was the last work order included in the $2 million allocation. 

Jeff Bare, contract manager for the county's Property Management division, said “literally tons of debris” have been removed from the Braden River.

Photo by Lesley Dwyer

Manatee County placed priority on the approximately 1.2 miles between Lakewood Ranch Boulevard and River Club Boulevard because the surrounding neighborhood ponds feed into the river. 

Bare said removing the blockages reduces the hazard of flooding after substantial rainfall. 

Commissioners approved an additional $7.5 million May 20 to clear another 95 locations among the 545 canals the county maintains. The remaining cleanup efforts in the Braden River will continue west toward Interstate 75 and east toward Lorraine Road. 

Bare estimates the rest of the river will be cleared by mid-June. 

The section from River Club Boulevard to the interstate will take less than a week, but the portion from Lakewood Ranch Boulevard to Lorraine Road will take a few weeks because the vegetation is so thick and the river has so many curves. 

The county had to hire outside contractors to complete the work before the height of hurricane season. 

The first phase of cleanup was contracted to Rick Richards, Inc. out of Myakka City. For the second phase, the county hired three additional contractors.

If left up to the county’s stormwater staff, the work would likely not be completed before the fall. There are only 62 staff members, and not all of them clear debris. Some mow; others spray chemicals to keep certain vegetation at bay. 

Courtesy image

It took Richards’ crew only 10 days to clean up the Braden River between River Club Boulevard and Lakewood Ranch Boulevard. 

Scott Chapman, the field maintenance superintendent for Manatee County's stormwater department, estimates it would have taken his crew a month and a half to do the same amount of work because the county doesn’t have the specialized equipment Richards' has, namely a Gator Foot amphibious rubber-tracked vehicle. 

“They can go through an area of canal where they can run on the track, but if it gets too deep, they float and the propeller takes over,” Bare said. “Like some of the military-type vehicles, they can go from water to land and just keep on going.” 

Chapman’s crew would have to load into a jon boat with chainsaws to do the same work, but an even bigger issue is that they’re still making their way through 154 work orders left over from the 2024 hurricane season, which Bare called “the triple punch” of Hurricane Debby, Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton.

Stormwater employees have been working overtime ever since. The goal is to finish up the remaining work orders by Aug. 1. 

“It’s daunting for the staff that we have,” Chapman said. “And that’s the over 200 miles of canals that we regularly maintain and inspect. That’s not including natural systems.” 

The Braden River is a natural system. Outside of removing a blockage at a homeowners request off Pine Valley Street, the county has never touched the river.

A collaborative effort

“It’s a huge sense of relief that now I can see the water flowing as it should because that means stormwater will flow as it should,” Sauchinitz said. “However, we need to make sure that it’s maintained.”

The Braden River was never monitored or maintained prior to flooding because the best practice for a natural system is to let it take care of itself. 

Typical maintenance of canals relies on herbicides to control vegetation, but Bare said chemical treatments would harm wildlife in the area, such as gopher tortoises. The county also has “no legitimate access” to the river without an easement. 

Bare described future maintenance as a “collaborative” effort between the county and its citizens.

“We don’t have the staff to be monitoring these (natural systems) every week,” he said. “We’ve got hundreds of miles of canals that we maintain with in-house staff and only a certain number of guys to do the work. Basically, we need everybody’s help.”

Photo by Lesley Dwyer

As budget season approaches, Bare and Chapman are preparing their requests for additional staff and equipment, but approval depends on the Board of County Commissioners. 

Reports of blockages need to go through the county's 311 system so the call is properly logged. Unless there's a safety concern, the work is done in the order it is requested. 

Chapman also noted that the stormwater department is only responsible for the flow line of the water.

He used the example of a recent caller who wanted the county to remove mangroves from his property. The request was denied because the mangroves were not blocking the flow of water.

"We make sure the water can get from Point A to Point B," Chapman said. "If citizens are concerned about brush or tree trimming, that's not us."

But now that work has been done to the Braden River, it will be assigned an "asset number." Chapman explained that an asset number allows the county to track when and what maintenance has been done. 

Moving forward, the stormwater staff will inspect the Braden River before and after a hurricane. 

Standard protocol is to inspect a list of hot spots that are known to flood prior to a storm. After the storm passes, the staff has a "route list" of every maintained canal in the county that they inspect from end to end for blockages.

"It'll add more to our plate to inspect every year," Chapman said. "But we have a great staff. They know the ins and outs, and they take pride in their jobs."