Pasco County automates floodgates for Trinity Oaks flood response

Pasco County automates floodgates for Trinity Oaks flood responsePasco County Public Works has introduced SCADA-based floodgate automation and remote water-level monitoring for the Trinity Oaks and Thousand Oaks watersheds. The system is designed to let staff open gates ahead of major storms and assess gate conditions without dispatching crews to each site.

The floodgate system was developed to reduce residential and roadway flooding in the Trinity Oaks and Thousand Oaks neighborhoods.

SCADA enables Public Works staff to remotely monitor water levels and view gate movements, blockages and debris buildup.

County staff said the system can allow gates to be opened in advance of an imminent major storm, allowing watershed levels to recede.

The technology replaces a process in which crews travelled to each location and manually hand-cranked gate actuators, including during bad weather.

Pasco County Public Works has deployed a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system to automate floodgate operations and remotely monitor water levels in the Trinity Oaks and Thousand Oaks neighborhoods. The county said the gates were intended to reduce residential and roadway flooding. Under the previous operating model, crews had to travel to individual gate sites and manually hand-crank actuator wheels to open or close them—a process described in the meeting material as laborious and time-consuming. The SCADA platform gives staff in the Public Works office visibility of water levels during storm events and allows them to command gate movements remotely. Staff said the system shows whether a gate is opening and can indicate blockages or debris buildup, providing operational information without an immediate site visit. The new capability is intended to support earlier intervention when severe weather is forecast. “If we know that a major storm is imminent, we can open the gates in advance,” a county speaker said. Opening the gates ahead of a storm is intended to allow water levels in the affected watersheds to recede. Remote monitoring also changes the staffing response during adverse conditions. Previously, personnel might have had to visit each gate in bad weather to determine conditions. County staff said the task could be reduced to one or two people reviewing the information from the office, enabling other operations personnel to be deployed elsewhere. Public Works described the SCADA installation as transformative and said it could be extended to other parts of the county as officials address flood-prone areas. The county presented the system as a tool to help move floodwaters out “in a timely manner,” while giving staff advance warning when water reaches levels that require gate operation.