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Public Needs Straight Answers On A Reservoir That Can't Be Filled

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 19, 2008

Tropical Storm Fay should be filling up Tampa Bay Water's 15-billion gallon reservoir and drowning any chance of a regional water shortage next year. But the region won't get that one benefit from the storm's path because of another troubling miscue at Tampa Bay Water, the regional water supplier.

The utility is keeping the C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir in south Hillsborough at half-capacity because cracks - some six inches wide and several inches deep - have developed in the walls.

And next spring the utility will have to drain the reservoir even further for a closer look at what's causing the concrete to fail.

The exasperating situation means the regional supplier has failed to maximize the collection of water during this year's lush rainy season. It also means that if the region suffers a drought next year, additional water restrictions will likely be necessary because the reservoir, a key safeguard against drought, would be largely out of commission.

This is not the first time a much ballyhooed Tampa Bay Water project has ended up with costly problems. If the utility is to retain its credibility, it must not only solve the problem, but hold those at fault accountable.

Tampa Water General Manager Gerald Seeber, hired earlier this year, insists the utility will determine whether the problems are due to design, construction or inadequate inspections during construction. He says the utility will take appropriate action should private contractors be to blame.

The cause of the cracks so far remains uncertain. But divers have found that near the base of the reservoir's walls, the concrete is only three inches thick, though engineering specifications required 12 inches.

It's tempting to conclude that Tampa Bay Water has, once again, gone with a faulty plan. The utility's desalination plant, after all, ran into all kinds of costly problems, especially an inadequate pretreatment system. The facility was four years late coming on line and nearly $50 million over budget.

You would have thought that experience would have made Tampa Bay Water extremely conservative about its most ambitious project to date - especially since nearby residents vigorously opposed the reservoir. They feared a breach would swamp their homes.
Tampa Bay Water officials dismiss those worries. They say the cracks represent no threat. They emphasize the reservoir is inspected daily and that a liner within the embankment protects against a breach.

We don't doubt their assurances, but it's understandable that neighbors are skeptical. As the Tribune's Mike Salinero reported earlier this summer, the contractor mixed cement with soil excavated on site when building the buffers needed to absorb storm-caused waves. Soil cement has about one-tenth the strength of typical concrete.

The use of soil concrete may have nothing to do with the cracks. Officials point out that the cracks are appearing in only about four acres of the 80-acre reservoir, and not necessarily where the thinnest layers of concrete have been found.

Still, the substitution gives the impression of an agency more interested in getting quick and cheap results than protecting the public. It hasn't helped that under prior leadership, Tampa Bay Water was notoriously defensive and reluctant to ever concede a mistake.

In any event, more than $700,000 has been spent working on the cracks. Many millions more will have to be spent if the concrete is to be replaced with rock-like rip-rap, as state Sen. Ronda Storms, a long-time Tampa Bay Water critic, predicts.

The utility, it should be stressed, has done a commendable job of developing new drinking-water sources that have dramatically reduced harmful wellfield pumping. Even the desalination plant is now producing 25 million gallons of drought-free water a day.

The regional utility, and a diverse supply of water sources, are essential to meeting the growing demands of West Central Florida's population. Maybe mistakes are inevitable, when a utility is, as Seeber says, "the first bird off the wire" in pursuing a new water supply.

But the utility has to demonstrate it is interested in more than just the lowest bid.
Seeber must prove that Tampa Bay Water can provide the public not only a reliable source of water, but straight answers and full accountability.

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