THE ACREAGE, Fla. — Crews in the Indian Trail Improvement District are working early mornings and late nights to pump down elevated water levels after days of heavy rain, but officials say garbage clogging drainage canals is making a tough job even harder.
Board President Elizabeth Accomando said Monday that while "pumping and dumping," as her crews call it, has been continuous since last week's flooding, water levels in key impoundments remain above where they should be.
WATCH BELOW: Trash clogs canals, prompting more flooding concerns
"The south impoundment, we're almost a foot above where we like to be, and the north impoundment is still about almost 2 feet above where we'd like it to be," Accomando said. "They're going to continually pump."
Lightning and fresh rainfall have slowed progress, but Accomando said an avoidable problem is also hindering the system: trash and yard debris blocking pipes and canals.
Trash Turning Into Flood Risk
Standing along one of the district's canals, Accomando pointed to items floating in the water as an example of what crews are pulling out.
"As you can see, we've got the cooler. It looks like we've got some other personal items, a lot of bottles, just a lot of trash that maybe people are just throwing out their car window as they're going by, or it ends up in the swale and then flows through, and this is where it ends up," she said.
On one property, crews found an entire bag of softballs shoved into a pipe. Other times, they've hauled out deflated balls, toys and even coconuts.
"That clogs up the whole system," Accomando said. "The water backflows into people's properties, so we're up against that as well. Cleaning it out."
When crews have to stop to clear blockages, it delays efforts to keep water moving out of flooded neighborhoods.
Shared Responsibility for Drainage
Accomando stressed that while the district manages more than 1,000 miles of canals, swales and ditches, residents have an important role in keeping water flowing.
"People don't think it's their responsibility," she said. "It's still your land, it's still your residence. So again, if you're able, just be mindful of those things."
She urged residents to rake up vegetation left behind after curbside pickup and to keep swales clear so debris doesn't wash into drainage pipes.
"If you've got a lot of vegetation on the swale for SWA to pick it up, they leave a lot of that debris behind. Try and rake it up if you're able to, because eventually that's going to end up in the pipe and it's going to clog the pipe," she said.
The district office, which serves about 17,000 resident-owned lots, is fielding "hundreds and hundreds of calls," she added, and staff are working to return voicemails and emails as quickly as possible.
"You have to have a little patience right now because we're trying to accommodate so many people at once," she said.
Why Some Yards Are Supposed to Hold Water
Accomando said newer residents, especially those who moved in over the last few relatively dry years, may not realize that the community was intentionally designed to hold water on individual properties.
"The way that The Acreage was designed, it's designed for you to hold water on your property," she said. "The houses are higher than the lot. You've got low areas that are depressed. The water is going to remain there until the ground can absorb it, which you want because we have to recharge our aquifers. We're all on well water."
Swales may move water in some areas and simply hold it in others, she said, but all of it is part of a larger system that has to function together.
"Water is like gold these days," Accomando said. "You don't want to get rid of any more than you have to."
Older Lots, New Construction, and Neighbor Disputes
The original design for the area dates back to the 1950s, long before anyone envisioned how large the community — or its surrounding development — would become.
Historically, house pads were raised slightly and ponds were dug on lots as a critical drainage feature.
"You want to have a pond. You shouldn't fill your pond in," Accomando said. "It's all part of the system."
As building requirements changed, Palm Beach County began requiring higher house pads and engineered drainage plans to keep water on-site. Problems arise, she said, when residents bring in fill or build structures without following those plans or constructing berms to contain runoff.
"What we see happening, the higher properties are sending the water to the neighbors who are lower, and they're not building their berm, or they're removing their berm," she said.
Accomando described a recent complaint from a resident whose neighbor built a shed that met distance requirements from the property line but sat on an elevated pad with no berm.
"All that water and all that sand from his base is all washing in and creating a major issue for the next-door neighbor," she said. "We all live here together. We have to work together and be mindful that what we're doing is affecting the person down the line."
Mosquitoes and Standing Water
With large portions of some yards still underwater, mosquitoes are an inevitable concern.
"When you've got a good portion of your yard [underwater], what are you going to do?" Accomando said.
She recommended residents dump standing water in small containers, like garbage can lids and plant saucers, and use commercially available mosquito "dunks" or larvicide products in larger areas of standing water.
"The wading birds will come in. They'll eat a lot of it. The toads will come in. They'll eat a lot of it," she said, but noted the district cannot eliminate mosquitoes and mosquito-borne disease risks entirely. "We're not going to be able to stop the mosquitoes, and that's way beyond Indian Trails' purview."
She also urged residents to protect themselves at dusk with appropriate clothing or insect repellent.
"The Things You Do Today Might Flood Your Neighbor Tomorrow"
As crews continue around-the-clock efforts to bring water levels down, Accomando's message to residents is one of shared responsibility and long-term thinking.
She said something as simple as how someone disposes of coconuts from their yard can have a downstream effect — literally.
"We're seeing a ton of coconuts in the canals. We're seeing them in the pipes. That is not how you dispose of your coconuts," she said.
Instead, she suggested residents stack unwanted coconuts in their swale and label them for others to take.
"If you don't want to eat them, pile them up in your swale. Put a post out there, 'Hey, curb alert! Free coconuts,'" she said. "There are people that want them. Maybe they'll plant them."
Above all, she said, residents should remember they are part of a larger drainage network.
"Please don't just disperse them into the system like this, because again, we all have to work together and be mindful of each other," Accomando said. "The things that you do today might flood your neighbor tomorrow."
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