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AUGUST 2019 941.349.0194|ISLAND VISITOR PUBLISHING, LLC
Swales Are Swell
PRESIDENT REPORT Summer time for your Board has been filled with decisions and actions on your behalf
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DETWILER’S
Detwiler’s Farm Market to open new store close to the Key
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KID’S CORNER
Aidan D’Silva, 14, 9th grader at Pine View School
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ASK GARY
A conversation with Dr. Gary Kompothecras
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www.THELANDINGSOFSARASOTA.com
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By Michael Knupp & Roger Kidder - Co-Chairs, LMA Lakes & Drainage Committee What’s all this talk about swales and why should I care. You should know that without swales, The Landings might be subject to street and property flooding, standing water that is a breeding ground for mosquitoes and uncontrolled erosion. Rainfall and the uncontrolled flow of that rainwater is the major cause of flooding and erosion. The primary method by which rainfall is removed from where it falls is by surface runoff overland and downhill until, eventually in our case, into the bay. Stormwater is collected and conducted away from the area in a variety of natural drainage patterns, man-made open trenches, and a closed pipe stormwater drainage system. In developments like The Landings, stormwater is carried away in a combination of man-made trenches and underground closed pipes. In The Landings these trenches are called swales. A swale is defined as a wide, shallow, slightly sloping ditch in the lawn that collects and transports runoff as open flow drainage. A typical stormwater system might begin in your back or side yard between your house and your neighbor’s. Water coming off your roof is collected in a gutter system that is conveyed through downspouts and into the yard via gravity and then into a swale. The swale then runs to the front yard and either into another swale that runs parallel to the street or into a catch basin that carries the water into the underground pipe system. In some places there is both an underground pipe and a swale. The water in the street swale will run slightly downgrade to a larger catch basin connected to the main drainage pipe. These pipes flow into one or more of the nine lakes in The Landings and then out to the bay. The real purpose of our lakes is to collect sediment and
This is a working swale in Carriagehouse 2 which has the best maintained swales in The Landings
trash and keep it from going into the bay. What you probably didn’t know is a large amount of the stormwater coming into The Landings comes from street gutters on Tamiami Trail from as far north as Field Road, east on Proctor just past the elementary school and south just past the school headquarters. In addition, all the storm drains in the Landings shopping center flow into our stormwater system. All in all, there is about 15 miles of drainage lines in The Landings not counting the swales. So, how come I have water in my driveway or in the grass between my driveway and my neighbors? The answer is, the swale that runs parallel to the street isn’t functioning properly. The two main reasons for swale problems are full swales and driveways. Over time, if a swale is not maintained with a slight slope in the lawn that carries the water slightly down grade to the catch basin, it will not flow. Some properties also have shrubs planted in them. In accordance with the controlling documents of the Landing Management Association (LMA), there is a drainage and utility easement along the front of
the property that allows the public utilities and the LMA to install power, cable, sanitation lines and the drainage system. Where the easement is on LMA property, the LMA is responsible for the maintenance of the drainage system. In the case where the drainage system is running underground in the easement on homeowner’s or condo association property, the LMA is responsible for maintaining the underground system. In the case of a swale, it is the responsibility of the resident or the association to maintain all swales on their property. Probably the main cause of drainage issues along the front of a property is the height of the driveway. If water is backing up behind the driveway, the driveway is too high. This can be caused when a new driveway is installed higher than the lawn on both sides of the drive and is not sloped toward the street. There are two solutions to the problem. If you have a paver driveway, it is possible to pull up a small amount of pavers, slightly lower and slope the drive to allow water to flow across the drive from the swale on both sides of the drive. Another, more expensive, solution is to pull up the pavers at the end of the driveway, put a six-inch pipe under the driveway with a small catch basin on both side of the driveway. This allows the water to flow under the driveway. In the case of a concrete driveway, the driveway would need to be cut and either install a pipe or put a grate in the driveway to carry water from swale to swale. We hope this article gives you a bit of information about our drainage system and swales. If you have any questions or concerns about drainage, our committee would be happy to meet with you. Remember, swales are swell if they are maintained correctly.