Lake Manatee is a major source of water for Bradenton and other cities in Manatee County, providing 32 million US gallons (120,000,000 L; 27,000,000 imp gal) per day.

Discussion of building a reservoir in Manatee County started in the 1950s.

In 1951, the Manatee County Commission passed a resolution indicating interest in building a dam at an existing deep ravine east of the Rye Road bridge.

Construction of the Lake Manatee reservoir broke ground on October 23, 1965.

This article about a location in Manatee County, Florida is a stub.