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City Turns To Feds For Help With Plumbing

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By CHRISTIAN M. WADE

cwade@tampatrib.com

Published: January 25, 2009

TAMPA - The city has a big plumbing problem, and a hefty price tag to go along with it.

Miles of water and sewer pipes throughout Tampa, many dating back nearly a century, have reached the end of their life and will need to be replaced in coming years.

By modest estimates, the price tag for fixing the system tops more than $200 million.

Two years ago, the city issued more than $51 million in municipal bonds to help pay for several water-related projects. The bonds are backed by money from the city's five-year plan to increase water rates. About $45 million of it was earmarked for replacing pipes.

But that money won't fix all the city's plumbing problems.

So the city is turning to the Obama administration and Congress, hoping to get a slice of the proposed $825 billion economic stimulus package to complete those projects.

In November, Mayor Pam Iorio submitted a $50 million list of ready-to-go projects to the U.S. Conference of Mayors, which is planning to lobby Congress for billions of dollars in infrastructure upgrades. Last week, Iorio submitted a similar request to U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor for more than $695 million in federal funding from the stimulus package.

The bulk of the city's funding requests are for water and sewer projects, including:

•Citywide water main project. Replace about 33 miles of distribution lines throughout the city. Cost: $33.6 million.

•Water main replacement from David L. Tippin Water Treatment Plant to downtown and South Tampa. Cost: $55 million.

•Citywide wastewater distribution pipe replacements from Howard F. Curren wastewater plant. Cost: $2 million.

•Replace pump stations, pipes and other equipment at the Howard F. Curren wastewater plant. Cost: $3.4 million.

While there are few details yet on how projects will be chosen or what the requirements would be for cities requesting the federal dollars, the proposed stimulus package is on a fast track through Congress in hopes of reaching President Barack Obama's desk within the next month.

Iorio said fixing the water and sewer infrastructure is a priority for her administration and that federal funding would go a long way toward helping the city fix the pipes.

"This type of work is often neglected but it is important to the foundation of a city," she said.

Brad Baird, director of the city's water department, said about 15 percent of the city's distribution pipes need replacing and there's not enough money to pay for it.

"We simply have more needs than money," he said. "We have a lot of work to do."

Last year, the city's water department replaced more than 47 miles of pipeline at a cost of about $11 million. This year, the water department has another 20 projects on tap.

Baird said the city's aging water and sewer pipes have been bleeding water, and money.

In 2007, the city lost about 17 percent - more than one of every 6 gallons - of the water it produced, partially as a result of aging pipes. That's about 5.4 billion gallons of water.

"It's getting much better," Baird said. "We've seen a big reduction in water losses."

And despite the economic recession, city officials say the money is being well-spent.

"It will cost much more if we postpone this any further," Baird said.

Reporter Christian M. Wade can be reached at (813) 259-7679.

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