Miccosukee Greenway Trail Flooding Finally Relieved
Jane Fletcher | Published on 9/5/2024
Beginning in late March, water covered the Greenway trail just north of the Edenfield Trailhead.
Trail users coming east from Fleischman Road had to turn around when confronting a five-acre pond covering the trail and the beautiful nearby oak hammock picnic area. City and state stormwater staff claimed the Canopy development’s Dove Pond stormwater pond was not the source of the water.
However, evidence shows that other Canopy stormwater enters the Greenway and the City of Tallahassee’s huge clearcut along the powerlines north of the Greenway is sheeting water into the park. No government agency has come forward to propose solutions to prevent another flooding incident. CCC and Gulf Winds Track Club have asked an independent stormwater engineer to look at the cause of the flooding and propose solutions.
Recently, the Leon County Parks Program raised the trail above the water and installed pipes to allow stormwater to drain past the park and into the ditch along Miccosukee Road. Hardly an environmental solution to polluted water coming through the park from two recently developed areas. The flooding has killed trees in the hammock. It is unclear what the mitigation for that loss will be. Trail users have applauded the elevated trail and are happy after nearly five months to be able to run, walk and bicycle on that part of the Greenway.