Bonita Springs details $18M golf‑course flood project, East Terry drainage work and home buyouts

Matt (public works staff) told the council the city’s largest active stormwater work is the Bonita Springs Golf Course restoration project, which arose after flooding in 2017 and Hurricane Irma and is now “pretty much in” and nearing turnover to the city.

The project converts about 56 acres of lakes and new, interconnected piping intended to provide protection sized to a 100‑year flood event. “That 60‑inch pipe is connecting this lake, which is called Lake 8, to Lake 1,” Matt said, noting the 60‑inch (5‑foot) interior diameter is among the largest pipes in city inventory.

Why it matters: staff said the golf course infrastructure and piping will change local conveyance so water no longer must follow long, circuitous swales that previously left neighborhoods ponded for days. Matt said the system had needed pumping early in its first summer of operation while under construction, but is now “pretty well operational.”

Nut graf: City staff reviewed a suite of stormwater capital projects as part of the CIP workshop, emphasizing three large, grant‑funded efforts — the golf course lakes and piping, East Terry Street drainage upgrades (a…