As Florida heads into what may be another active hurricane season, residents in South Tampa are urging city officials to finally address long-neglected canal maintenance, saying that Canal 20 in the Westshore area is clogged, worsening flooding and storm damage.

Homeowners living on West Euclid and West Bay Villa Avenue say the waterway has not been cleaned in 70 years. They claim it has built up three to six feet of silt and debris, leaving stormwater with virtually nowhere to flow during heavy rains or storms.

Damage from last year’s hurricanes Helene and Milton has escalated frustrations. Some residents are now faced with costly repair bills—up to $110,000 to replace seawalls collapsed by flooding. Insurance has not covered many of those costs.

In 2013, the City of Tampa spent $2.8 million to dredge 10 canals in the Westshore neighborhood. Canal 20, however, was left out of that project.

City officials say the canal is too narrow to meet state dredging requirements — which mandate a minimum of 10 feet clearance from seawalls and 5 feet from docks. These standards, they say, make conventional dredging infeasible for Canal 20.

Residents, however, are pushing back, suggesting that smaller equipment might be used — for example, a barge small enough to navigate Canal 20 — to perform a scaled-down dredging project. They are also calling for renewed city funding to help avoid still greater damage in future storms.

One resident, Chris Rose, said, “Not dredging is just unacceptable. And again, we’re paying the price now.” Another, Lauren Schwec, noted that even on heavy rain days, water levels in and around the canal fluctuate dramatically.

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(Image credit: WTVT)

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