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Water Use Crackdown Demanded

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By NEIL JOHNSON

njohnson@tampatrib.com

Published: February 25, 2009

BROOKSVILLE - With the region in the throes of a nearly three-year drought, water regulators said Tuesday they want to wring every last drop from current restrictions and boost conservation before imposing tougher rules - "the last bullet in our holster."

Tampa Bay Water, the wholesale water supplier to utilities in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties, wanted the Southwest Florida Water Management District to impose more limits on top of rules that already are the state's most restrictive.

The district, known as Swiftmud, said more water can be saved through existing rules, especially if local utilities step up enforcement. Measures aimed at a 10 percent reduction in water use have achieved only a 2 percent cut.

If rules already in place were followed, especially watering only once a week, the savings could amount to 25 million gallons a day, or the production of the region's desalination plant at full capacity, said Dave Moore, the district's executive director.

"The issue here is to get everybody to do their part," Moore said.

Swiftmud's governing board wants local utilities to consider measures such as a drought surcharge for households using large amounts of water and reducing water pressure if it can be done safely.

The board also wants utilities to consider a charge to homeowners who have access to reclaimed water but are not connected to the system. This would encourage homeowners to use reclaimed water on their lawns.

Board members even discussed encouraging restaurants to only serve water at a customer's request.

Hillsborough plans to ramp up efforts to notify customers of the restrictions, especially during Water Conservation Month in April.

"That's the perfect platform," water department spokeswoman Michelle Van Dyke said.

Four full-time employees enforce water restrictions countywide, she said, and use for county customers has fallen from 105 gallons a day per person to 95 gallons.

"People are definitely getting the message," Van Dyke said.

"March, April and May will be a real critical time for us," she said.

Imposing a surcharge on heavy users has been considered by department staff, she said, but the Hillsborough County Commission sets water rates.

Tampa Bay Water's request was an attempt to stave off a steep increase in pumping at wellfields in Pasco and northern Hillsborough as other sources are depleted.

The proposed restrictions were developed after the last drought that lasted from 1998 through 2001 but have never been imposed in the region. The rules would have tightened watering of lawns and new landscaping, and prohibited car washing at home, as well as charity car washes.

The district determined that getting the most from existing regulations would conserve more water than going to the tougher rules, although they remain an option.

Some of the proposals, such as banning all pressure washing except for health or safety reasons, would hurt businesses.

"No pressure washing would have a drastic effect on the painting business," Moore said.

All the measures proposed by Swiftmud can be done, said Gerald Seeber, general manager of Tampa Bay Water. "Some will require more thought and care," he told the district's board.

Without rain or significant conservation, Tampa Bay Water will be forced to turn to 11 wellfields and will probably exceed permitted pumping limits of 90 million gallons a day by March. Projections show pumping peaking in May at 160 million gallons.

As the hotter, drier months of April and May arrive, water use will skyrocket, straining the wellfields. Past heavy pumping drained lakes and ruined wetlands in central Pasco and northwest Hillsborough.

Water users in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Tampa, St. Petersburg and New Port Richey consumed fewer than 250 million gallons a day from all sources in October. That amount is forecast to approach 300 million gallons by May.

Since 2006, rainfall in Pasco, Pinellas and Hillsborough is more than 2 feet below normal, or roughly six months' worth of rain.

On a scale of 1 to 100, the flow in the Hillsborough River, Tampa's main source for drinking water, is a 2. The river can only provide about half the water Tampa needs each day, meaning the city must lean on its reservoir, which already is diminished to a level usually seen in May, and buy water from Tampa Bay Water.

A 15-billion gallon reservoir Tampa Bay Water normally relies on to provide about a quarter of the region's supply will probably run dry next month.

The C.W. Bill Young reservoir normally lasts until summer rains begin in mid-June, but cracks forced the utility to only partly fill it, hamstringing its ability to last through the dry season.

Added to the woes, summer rains were stingy and flows in the Hillsborough and Alafia rivers dwindled earlier than usual, forcing Tampa Bay Water to tap the reservoir months earlier than usual.

Swiftmud's board will consider further conservation measures when it meets in March.

Reporter Neil Johnson can be reached at (813) 259-7731.

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