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Residents of Saddle Creek and Southgate urge county to dredge Cowpens Slough and local oxbows after repeated flooding
Summary
Multiple Saddle Creek and Southgate residents described repeated flooding and property losses during the 2024 storm season and called on the county to dredge Cowpens Slough and include oxbow canals in maintenance plans.
Several residents from Saddle Creek, Mineola and Southgate told the board on March 12 that their neighborhoods flooded repeatedly in 2024 and early 2025 and asked the county to prioritize dredging and more frequent maintenance of Cowpens Slough, Phillippi Creek oxbows and local canal outlets.
Residents' accounts and requests Several speakers said their houses, garages and personal property were flooded during Tropical Storm Debbie and later rain events. Karen Kirsch described losing three cars, damage to a lawn mower and severe flooding of yards and storage areas on several acres of property: "The water continued to rise...I have never seen flooding like we experienced after Deb in Saddle Creek."
Community groups and homeowners asked the county to survey and dredge Cowpens Slough (public commenters said the last maintenance on Cowpens was decades ago) and to add the oxbow canals and private inlets to any Phillippi Creek work. Nadia Bowen, speaking for the Southgate Community Association (representing more than 2,000 homes), asked commissioners to "include the Southgate portion of Phillippe Creek and our Oxbow Canals into the Phillippe Creek dredging plan. Ideally, this project should extend all the way to Pinecraft."
Technical points cited by residents Residents and a retired engineer in the audience cited sedimentation and channel narrowing as causes of reduced conveyance capacity. Malcolm Scott, who described 47 years of observation along Phillippi Creek, used hydraulic reasoning to argue the creek's "hydraulic radius" has decreased because of silting and needs dredging to recover conveyance.
County response and next steps Commissioners and county staff said they heard the testimony and would incorporate oxbow and Cowpens Slough considerations into ongoing feasibility studies and dredge planning. Staff also noted the need to evaluate seawalls, private docks and existing infrastructure if bank-to-bank dredging were considered.
Sources: Public comment session at the March 12, 2025 Board of County Commissioners meeting; remarks by Karen Kirsch, Bruce Hiller, Nadia Bowen, Malcolm Scott and other Saddle Creek and Southgate residents.
