MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. (WWSB) – East Manatee County is considered by many to be a great place to live if you are looking for some peace and quiet outside of the city and want plenty of space for animals to graze.

“We just purchased this property in December 2023 so we could grow our nonprofit,” said Lindsey Ryan.

But for Ryan, who offers animal-assisted therapy with miniature horses, goats and donkeys, things didn’t quite go according to plan.

But since Debby, standing water on their property has become a constant problem, forcing them to shut down all services and spend money on unforeseen expenses.

“A lot of the money we raised to be able to offer all of our services for free is now being spent on curbing these problems, simply to protect our animals,” Ryan said.

The problems worsened when rainwater flowed into Lake Manatee and overwhelmed the reservoir.

“The 6 billion gallon reservoir is simply not large enough to serve as both a water supply reservoir and a stormwater retention basin. There is simply no way to put 18 billion gallons into a 6 billion gallon reservoir,” Deputy County Administrator Evan Pilachowski said at a commission meeting Tuesday.

The county is currently working with an independent firm to initiate an investigation into the flooding.

“We are still waiting for their scope of work so we can negotiate and get started,” Pilachowski said.

But Ryan said it would all be in vain if the only goal was to find an excuse for what happened.

“We obviously can’t handle the amount of water that we’re going to experience on a regular basis. We’re in Florida, it rains, we have hurricanes. I think we as residents are just looking for a solution for the future,” Ryan said.

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