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Tampa Bay Water hires $1 million consultant to run reservoir fix

Staff file photo by GORDON DEMPSEY (2009)

The C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir cost $147 million to build. Repairs could top $125 million.

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By NEIL JOHNSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 19, 2009

Updated: 10/19/2009 01:52 pm

CLEARWATER - Over the objection of some board members, Tampa Bay Water voted today to spend nearly $1 million for a consultant to help select a firm to fix the utility's flawed reservoir in southern Hillsborough County.

The regional utility's board voted 5-4 to sign a contract for $908,500 with KPMG to help with hiring a company to fix the cracked reservoir.

The reservoir is designed to serve as a prime source of drinking water for the Tampa Bay area during the dry season that runs from November through early June.

Under the contract with KPMG, the firm would help find a company to do the repair, and Tampa Bay Water would pay a senior partner $350 an hour for 680 hours and senior staff members $300 an hour for 1,440 hours.

The work would be done in phases so the utility would only pay for the jobs needed, said Gerald Seeber, Tampa Bay Water's general manager.

The proposed contract amounts to less than 1 percent of the expected repair bill, he said.

At an estimated $125 million, the repair costs are expected to come close to the $147 million the utility spent to build the 15 billion-gallon C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir. It could be five years before repairs to prevent further cracking of the soil cement that covers the reservoir's sides and bottom are finished.

Picking a contractor and designing how to make the repairs are expected to take three years. The work itself would last another two years and sideline the reservoir as a water supply for two dry seasons.

The utility has already spent more than $4 million in a stop-gap effort to patch the cracks.

The money would come from water bills. The utility has also filed lawsuits against the builder, designer and company that oversaw construction of the reservoir in an attempt to recover some repair costs.

If Tampa Bay Water has to pay the full $125 million for the repair, water bills would go up about 13 cents for every 1,000 gallons. For a household using 10,000 gallons a month, the increase would be $1.30 monthly.

Those increases would not appear on water bills until 2011, when the board hires someone to make the repairs. The increases would be reduced by any money recovered from lawsuits.

Part of the task for KPMG would be to examine the financial health of firms considered for the repair job, Seeber said.

The utility did not hire anyone to perform the work envisioned for KPMG when selecting a firm to build its desalination plant, Seeber said.

The first two companies to undertake the desalination plant construction went out of business before finishing the job.

Tampa City Councilman Charlie Miranda, a water board member, questioned whether the staffs of Tampa Bay Water's six member governments had the ability to do the work.

He didn't want to approve the contract until Tampa Bay Water found out whether the same task could be done with either the utility's staff or by other members of the utility.

Hillsborough County Commissioner Al Higginbotham balked at the cost and voted against the contract. Miranda, Pinellas County Commissioner Karen Seel and New Port Richey Mayor Scott McPherson joined in opposing the contract.

Other board members were unhappy with the additional expenditure but also said the money spent now could avoid problems in the future.

St. Petersburg City Councilman James Bennett didn't like the cost but supported the contract to help ensure the repairs were done properly.

"None of us wants to spend tons of money," he said. "We absolutely, positively have to get it right."

The cracks do not threaten the integrity of the reservoir's earthen walls, but their presence last year prompted the state to bar Tampa Bay Water from filling the reservoir during the rainy season, and it went dry in March during one of the driest periods since 2000.

This summer, the state gave Tampa Bay Water permission to put as much water as possible into the reservoir. It now has more than 13 billion gallons and should be full before flows in rivers that feed the reservoir fall too low.

The soil cement is intended to prevent erosion of a wedge of soil covering a membrane that holds water in the reservoir. The membrane is embedded in the dirt walls of the reservoir.

After at least two years of investigation, engineers determined the wedge of soil is saturated. The soil layer does not drain as quickly as the reservoir when water is drawn out. That puts pressure on the soil cement and causes the cracks.

When the cracks were first noticed in 2006, Tampa Bay Water officials said they were expected and cosmetic.

Tampa Bay Water provides wholesale water to utilities serving Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties and Tampa, St. Petersburg and New Port Richey.

The board also agreed to negotiate a contract with Black & Veatch Corp. to act as the utility's engineer for the project. The firm played no role in the original construction of the reservoir.

The utility's staff will work out the cost and what work the firm will perform, Seeber said.

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