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Alafia Draw Downs Extended

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By MIKE SALINERO

msalinero@tampatrib.com

Published: December 27, 2008

TAMPA - Regional water authorities are extending an emergency order that allows Tampa Bay Water to take up to 19 percent of the Alafia River's flow.

The Southwest Florida Water Management District extended the order for 10 months because of low water storage in the C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir. The reservoir has a capacity of 15 billion gallons, but is now holding just 3 billion because of slack rainfall and an ongoing investigation of cracks in the reservoir's inner walls.

Under normal conditions, Tampa Bay Water is permitted to take up to 10 percent of the Alafia's flow. But thanks to an ongoing drought, the regional water supplier has been allowed increased withdrawals. That was set to expire Wednesday.

For the duration of the order, Tampa Bay Water will supply customers primarily from the Hillsborough and Alafia rivers and the Tampa Bypass Canal. The water management district prefers that strategy to pumping groundwater supplies, now at lower-than-normal levels because of the drought.

The emergency permit also allows Tampa Bay Water to draw up to 60 million gallons of water a day from the Alafia, compared with 51.7 million gallons normally. But the utility cannot take water when the river's average daily flow is less than 124 cubic feet per second, or 80.14 million gallons a day.

This week, the Alafia's average flow was 237 cubic feet per second in the western half, but only 49 cubic feet per second in the east. Both figures are well below historic averages.

The Tampa Bay area has been suffering a drought for about three years. Last month, the water management district increased the drought status from "severe" to "extreme." Rainfall through November is 4.3 inches below normal for the year. Rainfall in 2007 and 2006 was also below normal.

The average aquifer level this week in the water district's central region, which includes Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas and Polk counties, was 0.05 foot. Normal is between 0 and 6 feet.

Reporter Mike Salinero can be reached at (813) 259-8303.

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