Polk County to give land on creek to SWFWMD

The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board is planning to consider a proposal in November to accept the donation of 2.6 acres Polk county owns along the Peace Creek Drainage Canal to provide the agency’s staff access to the canal for maintenance work.

The property is in Peace River Estates on land Polk County acquired from FEMA in 2006. FEMA had purchased the land and razed the homes on the property because they were victims of repetitive flooding, the most recent being severe flooding along the creek following the 2004 hurricanes.

The district had been looking for access points for maintenance work since the Florida Legislature abolished the Peace Creek Drainage District in 2010 and turned operation and maintenance of the World War I-era agricultural canal that runs from Lake Hamilton to Saddle Creek on the outskirts of Bartow.