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Dry Season Taxing Bradenton's Reservoir

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By JACKIE BARRON

News Channel 8

Published: March 18, 2009

BRADENTON - For Keith McGurn, an early dry season equals stressful times.

"We check the level out here every single day," said McGurn, who oversees the city of Bradenton's Evers Reservoir.

And every day the level drops, a little.

The reservoir, which can hold about 1.5 billion gallons, is named for former Mayor Bill Evers, who insisted decades ago that the city needed its own source of water.

Thanks to Evers' foresight, McGurn said, the city can stand on its own during difficult dry seasons.

The reservoir serves about 55,000 people, who use about 5 million gallons of water a day.

The city already has lost a half-million gallons. McGurn said the reservoir looks like a lake, when it should flow like a river over the top of a small dam at one end.

McGurn said that without rain the city has about six months' supply of water. It is a limit he doesn't want to test.

"I'm probably one of the few people around that says when it rains that's good weather," McGurn said.

This time of year stretches his nerves because he and his staff can do only two things – watch the weather and hope water users care enough to conserve.

Reporter Jackie Barron can be reached at (813) 221-5708.

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