Lake Worth Drainage District

Lake Worth Drainage District wishes you and yours a happy, healthy Hanukkah and new year.

Special thanks to the staff Worth Drainage District who dedicated their time and creativity to make our offices look incredibly festive! The decorations bring a joyful spirit to the workplace. Thank you for making the season brighter for all of us!

Stormwater ponds and lakes are lovely features, but have you ever wondered how your drainage control structure works?🤔🧐As the water rises in the pond (or lake) from rainfall, it discharges through a bleeder or***ce to a LWDD canal until the pond water reaches the designed elevation. Some control structures also have operable weirs that can be opened further to modify the water discharge rate through the control structure.

Join us today at 8:30 a.m. for the Board of Supervisors Workshop. The meeting will be held at district headquarters in Delray Beach. We would love to see you!

Workshop tomorrow📣📣📣 Our Board of Supervisors will hear Anthony LasCasas, Director, Operations & Maintenance, give a presentation on Phase II of the District’s Canal Rehabilitation Program. Phase II consists of the restoration of canal banks/slopes following the recent removal of vegetation, which will reestablish banks to allow for sufficient maintenance access.

It’s been dry out so storm flooding might not be at the forefront of your mind. But DYK weather forecasters predict a wet dry season due to an El Nino? Floods are the most common natural hazard in the USA and can occur at any time of the year. Take advantage of the dry weather to check your storm drains and control structures to ensure they are clean and operating properly.

A reminder that LWDD’s canal banks and rights-of-way are not ideal for recreating. Tree Crew Leader Armando Pereda spotted this Eastern Diamond-backed Rattlesnake on the L-10 right-of-way west of Pinehurst Road. This species of Rattlesnake is large and its bites can be dangerous to both people and pets! While the Eastern Diamond-backed Rattlesnake is not known to be aggressive, it will attack if intentionally molested or stepped on.

The dry season is here but that doesn’t mean we let up on monitoring the flood control system. LWDD monitors and operates 500 miles of canals, 20 major water control structures, and numerous minor water control structures throughout our boundary 24/7.

The late C. Stanley Weaver served on LWDD’s Board of Supervisors for 47 years, having taken over the seat once occupied by his father. Upon his retirement from the board, he was honored for his public service with the renaming of the Boynton Canal to the C. Stanley Weaver Canal.

Lake Worth Drainage District wishes you a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving. We are enjoying this time with our families and will return to the office on November 27th.
Please report a flooding emergency to [email protected].

Lake Worth Drainage District’s office will be closed on November 23rd and 24th for the holidays. To report an emergency, please contact us at [email protected]. Our emergency notification system is monitored 24/7.
The Board of Supervisors and staff wish you a Happy Thanksgiving!

Staff Shout-Out!📣📣 Meet David Bends, Right-of-Way Interest Supervisor. David recently performed a detailed, diligent search on a property interest matter and the customer was so pleased that he sent David a box of cookies as a token of his appreciation. We think David is pretty special too…and he even shared his cookies🍪 with the entire office.

DYK that flood control is a shared responsibility? Neighborhood drainage systems, or tertiary systems, are operated by property owners or residential associations. Secondary flood control canals are operated by the LWDD, and primary flood control is provided by the South Florida Water Management District. More information can be found at lwdd.net/managing-water/flood-protection.

Fascinating fact! There are some North American birds that see objects two miles away. Birds of prey, like eagles, can spot small prey animals from as far as three miles away. Here’s a photo of Travis Crosby, with our Tree Crew, enjoying a bird’s eye view of LWDD’s campus while performing tree maintenance. 😎

Rain again this afternoon through tomorrow morning. Please note that residential communities are designed to retain water in swales and onsite detention ponds. You can expect to see canals and lakes rise and fall in response to this rainfall. All community control structures have a passive weir which operates continuously whether the secondary weir is open or closed. There may be temporary flooding in streets and in other low-lying areas. These areas act as secondary detention and help to keep flood water away from your home. Visit our website for more flood control information at www.lwdd.net.

Let's see if the EURO wins again with this forecast. Showing sustained TS force winds tomorrow night here off the Florida east coast (gusts much higher). It was correct with the current low near the upper Gulf. This east coast low is fixing to brew and skirt NE. www.spaghettimodels.com

DYK that all 13 municipalities within LWDD’s region are on a 3-day-a-week landscape watering schedule and cannot water from 10 am-4 pm? The exception is the city of Boca Raton. Residents in Boca can’t water from 8 am-5 pm. Check to see which days you are allowed to water by clicking on the drop-down menu found at sfwmd.gov/community-residents/landscape-irrigation.

Join us tomorrow, Nov 15th, at 8:30 a.m., for our monthly Board of Supervisors Meeting. The meeting will be held at our office in Delray Beach. You can find the agenda and meeting details on our website at lwdd.net/board-of-supervisors/meeting-agendas-minutes

DYK that effective drainage systems are crucial for reducing the adverse effects of stormwater runoff? Know how your drainage system feeds into LWDD’s flood management system and help manage and control the flow of stormwater.

To recognize and honor our Veterans, LWDD’s offices will be closed on Friday, November 10, 2023. We will re-open on Monday, November 13, 2023.

DYK that property managers within our district receive education credits by attending an annual training course offered by LWDD? Look for additional announcements on The Community’s Role in Flood Control, to be held in the Spring of 2024.

When you’re a member of the field crew team, you get to see wildlife on a daily basis. Daniel Sergel, Lead Licensed Applicator, photographed these beauties…and a gator 😳 on or near LWDD canal banks.

Executive Director Tommy Strowd sat on an Water Forum panel to discuss the Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual (LOSOM) and how reductions in available water supply from Lake Okeechobee will negatively impact the permitted needs of the Water Use Community in Palm Beach County. The panel was moderated by State Representative Kaylee Tuck; joining Mr. Strowd on the panel were SFWMD Governing Board Member Ben Butler, Ernie Barnett, Dan DeLisi, and John Maehl.

Here’s one for all of you nature super sleuths! This caterpillar decided to ride along the canal bank on one of our LWDD trucks. Does anyone know what type it is? UF/IFAS

We hope you got good candy but a reminder that this and other trash does not belong in canals or storm drains. Keep your drainage systems clear of plastic pumpkins and other ghoulish debris.

Happy Halloween from the L-30 Canal Creature!


Graphic Artist: Tommy Strowd

LWDD staff attended a Palm Beach County Legislative Delegation joint meeting with the PBC Florida League of Cities where natural resources and other 2024 Legislative Session priorities were discussed. Government working together to accomplish great things for PBC!

Fun Fact Friday: The Echo 1 satellite was launched from Cape Canaveral in 1960. Imagine life today without satellites. We can’t! Water managers and engineers in even low-income countries rely on remotely sensed data acquired from satellites to perform modeling scenarios and monitor operations.

Meet Johnny Saldivar. Johnny is celebrating 15 years with LWDD and is a member of the Aquatics Team. On weekends, Johnny trades his cowboy hat and sunglasses for an umpire’s mask and officiates in NCAA softball games throughout Florida.

To maintain our rights-of-way for flood protection, LWDD heavy equipment operators and mowers need to be able to operate on the canal bank at all times. To help with this effort, our Tree Crew will trim tree branches hanging over or on the right-of-way. Note the encroachments in the before photos and how the canal bank is more accessible in the after photos.