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Volusia County presents stormwater study results and funding plan after Ian and Milton
Summary
County public works director Ben Bartlett told the New Smyrna Beach commission that rainfall from recent storms exceeded design thresholds, prompting regional watershed studies, maintenance work and pursuit of federal and state grants; the county has 33 watershed studies and 18 capital projects approved and highlighted a shovel-ready $6 million Corbin Park project.
Ben Bartlett, director of Volusia County's public works, told the New Smyrna Beach City Commission on April 22 that recent hurricanes produced rainfall that exceeded the county's design storm thresholds and exposed weaknesses in retention ponds, outfalls and tailwater conditions. "If you add a cubic yard of dirt here, you got to take it out. It's called compensating storage," Bartlett said, explaining how development in floodplains can worsen flooding.
Bartlett described differences between Hurricane Ian and Milton in rainfall distribution and tidal influence, saying some southeast neighborhoods received "anywhere from 15 to 20 inches of rain," well above the county's 11.5-inch design baseline. He said the county is using Transform 386 and other programs to fund watershed master plans and capital projects and has approved 33 city watershed master studies and 18 capital projects so far. Bartlett singled out a $6 million Corbin Park stormwater improvement that he described as "shovel ready" once federal environmental clearance is complete.
The director discussed both regulatory and infrastructure actions: strengthening local development standards, standardizing basin data and modeling across jurisdictions, and pursuing regional projects with multiple municipal partners to improve grant competitiveness. Bartlett called for improved city-county coordination on maintenance and a web-based portal to show which agency maintains a given asset.
Commissioners pressed Bartlett on modeling of cumulative rain events, sea-level rise and timelines for seeing on-the-ground work. He said basin studies often take eight to 10 months to finish and that larger capital projects, including land acquisition and construction, can take years; short-term work, he said, will focus on maintenance, dredging and targeted cleanings funded through USDA, CDBG-DR and other programs.
Why it matters: Bartlett's presentation framed the county's view that future storms could increasingly exceed existing design standards, which has implications for local development rules, capital needs and grant-seeking priorities. The county is urging municipalities to coordinate on data and projects rather than rely solely on parcel-scale fixes.
What happens next: Bartlett said the county will post more stormwater data and reports online and proceed with the Corbin Park procurement once federal reviews finish. Commissioners said they wanted access to the county's model outputs and schedules so residents can better understand realistic timelines for mitigation work.
