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C.W. Bill Young Reservoir Tapped Out

News Channel 8 photo by PAUL LAMISON

Tampa Bay Water 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.

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 14, 2009

Updated: 03/14/2009 07:17 pm

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 water in the reservoir is depleted," said Tampa Bay Water spokeswoman Michelle Robinson, 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."

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 says a leaky toilet flapper can lose up to 200 gallons of water a day, equal to indoor water use for at least three people. Skipping one day of lawn watering saves up to 2,000 gallons, 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, about the same as the indoor use for a family of four over a month.

Yvette C. Hammett

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