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Drought Leads To Increase In Pumping

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By MIKE SALINERO

msalinero@tampatrib.com

Published: February 8, 2009

TAMPA - Back in the 1990s, Judy Williams watched the lake in her backyard slowly disappear, a consequence of massive groundwater pumping.

Now, Williams' nightmarish memories are stirring again. A 3-year-old drought has dried up rivers, forcing regional water supplier Tampa Bay Water to increase the amount of water it pumps from the aquifer by up to 80 percent this spring.

"That will do untold damage to the lakes and the wetlands in the affected areas yet again," said Williams, who lives in Lutz. "This is what we fought so hard to stop."

For nearly a decade, Williams and other homeowners in north Hillsborough and south Pasco counties battled with water regulators to reduce groundwater pumping. The period, known as the "water wars," ended in October 1998 with the creation of Tampa Bay Water.

Since that time, the water utility has gradually scaled back the amount of groundwater pumped by using more water from rivers and building a plant that turns saltwater into fresh. In 2005, the agency completed the 15 billion-gallon C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir to store water taken from rivers during high flows.

By the end of 2002, Tampa Bay Water had reduced groundwater pumping from 148 million gallons a day to 120 million gallons a day. The utility reduced its pumping again in December to an average of 90 million gallons a day.

Changing Course

But now the agency must change course because a three-year drought has diminished the flow of the Hillsborough and Alafia rivers to historic lows. Under agreements with state regulators, Tampa Bay Water can only draw water from the rivers at high flows.

"We now are within a four-year cumulative rainfall deficit of 41 inches in the Hillsborough River watershed," said Alison Adams, a senior manager at Tampa Bay Water. "The result is we don't have any water in the river systems."

Pumping will increase slightly starting this month, peaking in May at 168 million gallons a day, according to projections. In June, when summer rains are expected to resume, the pumping rate will be reduced to a projected 46 million gallons a day.

Some of the additional groundwater will be used to augment the Hillsborough River Reservoir, Tampa's main source of drinking water. Water in the reservoir was 3.5 feet below its maximum level last week, well below what's normal for this time of year, said Brad Baird, director of the Tampa Water Department.

Ordinarily, Tampa Bay Water could tap water stored in the Young reservoir until summer rains begin. But the agency has had to limit water in the reservoir to 2 billion gallons while it works on cracks in the reservoir walls.

"We all knew groundwater would be the answer when times got tough," said Eileen Hart, who won Hillsborough County's Moral Courage Award in 1996 for her fight to limit groundwater pumping.

Yet Hart sees no alternative in the face of the drought and the reservoir problems.

"It makes you want to scream and yell, but nature is hard," Hart said. "It's like everything is hitting us with the drought and the reservoir."

Minimizing Damage

Sucking too much water out of the ground can dry up lakes and wetlands, disrupting a delicate ecological web that sustains birds, fish and other wildlife. Overpumping can also weaken the limestone aquifer underlying the ground, increasing the likelihood of large sinkholes.

Adams said Tampa Bay Water will try to rotate pumping around different well fields to minimize environmental damage.

With the potential environmental harm in mind, officials at the Southwest Florida Water Management District say they hope pumping can be minimized through conservation and new water sources. The district has given Tampa Bay Water nearly $300 million since 1998 for alternative water projects, including $85 million for the desalination plant in Apollo Beach.

District officials are considering allowing water to be drawn from the Morris Bridge Sink, a sinkhole that could provide 3.8 million gallons a day in coming months. The water will go to the Tampa Bypass Canal, where it can be routed into the Hillsborough River Reservoir.

The district has also launched a radio and billboard campaign urging people to conserve by skipping a week of lawn irrigation. Local governments in the Tampa Bay area have already restricted lawn watering to once a week in response to an emergency drought declaration by the water district.

"We really want to make a concerted effort not to break that 90 million gallons a day," water district spokesman Michael Molligan said.

Williams, the Lutz homeowner, fears lakes and wells from Odessa to Zephyrhills will dry up if Tampa Bay Water pumps 160 million gallons of groundwater a day as it is proposing.

"It's like pulling drinking water out of a glass with a straw," she said. "You may be pulling water from the bottom of the glass, but you see the effects on surface."

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

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