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Area Surface Water Supply Nearly Gone, Supplier Says

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BY YVETTE C. HAMMETT

yhammett@tampatrib.com

Published: March 13, 2009

Updated: 03/13/2009 07:33 pm

TAMPA - With local lakes and rivers at critically low levels, the region's water provider has virtually shut down the surface water supply to the Tampa Bay region.

"The reservoir's level is so low we are unable to provide water, consistently, to the water treatment plant and we are unable to pull water from the Alafia River or the Tampa Bypass Canal,'' said Tampa Bay Water spokeswoman Michelle Robinson.

The agency is asking everyone to cut back in every way possible, from repairing leaky toilets and faucets to shortening showers and only watering lawns when it is absolutely necessary.

Tampa Bay Water put in a plea to the Southwest Florida Water Management District in late February to impose tighter restrictions on water use.

Instead, the district board members said they want to wring every bit of water from the current restrictions before tightening the rules.

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.

The time is now to cut use, Tampa Bay Water officials say.

"The water in the reservoir is depleted," Robinson said, referring to the C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir, south of Plant City. "Without surface water, we have to rely on groundwater and the relatively small amount of desalinated water" coming from the local desalination plant, she said. "It's going to be a couple of months before we get any real rain."

It's all about having enough water to drink, she said.

Over the past four years, rainfall in the Hillsborough River watershed is 42 inches below normal.

Don Polmann, director of science & engineering at Tampa Bay Water, said today that "there's no need to start panicking. We have available groundwater. We will meet everyone's need for water, we will use the desal plant but there is this ongoing drought, and it is important for people to use as little water as possible."

Polmann said "the reservoir has been in service for four years and it has served its purpose well but we have a drought-resistant system, not a drought-proof system."

CONSIDER THIS

*A leaky toilet flapper can lose up to 200 gallons of water a day. That equals indoor water use for at least three people.
*Skipping one day of lawn watering saves up to 2,000 gallons. That is the same as almost two weeks of indoor water use for a family of three.
* Skipping lawn watering for a month would save up to 8,000 gallons on average. The amount of water put on a lawn in a month is about the same as the indoor use for a family of four over a month.

Source: Tampa Bay Water

News Channel 8 reporter Samara Sodos contributed to this report. Reporter Yvette C. Hammett can be reached at (813) 865-1566.

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