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River project no threat to manatee

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 22, 2009

State environmental regulators may block a project that will revive the ecological health of the much-abused lower Hillsborough River. Their motives are admirable, but their objection doesn't make sense.

At issue is a much-debated and studied plan to augment the fresh water flow downstream of the city of Tampa's dam. The dam creates the reservoir that is the city's primary drinking water source, but it also halts the lower river's water flow approximately 200 days a year, making the waterway a stagnant, salty mess.

So you would think officials with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission would applaud a project that will put more oxygen in the water, lower its salinity and restore key estuarine habitat.

But, no, wildlife officials are worried the restoration could harm the manatee, an endangered species.

The project - and the river improvements - are likely to be delayed a year as the matter is studied.

We've consistently supported strong manatee protections, but on the river issue wildlife officials are being excessively cautious.

Some background: To bolster water flow to the lower river, the city and the Southwest Florida Water Management District, which regulates water use in the region, developed a plan to pump water from various springs and the Tampa Bypass Canal into the reservoir. The extra water would allow at least 13 million gallons a day to be released downstream. The increased flow would improve water quality and habitat while preserving an adequate supply of drinking water.

A key part of the plan calls for piping an additional 2 million gallons of water from Sulphur Springs, which is about two miles downstream from the reservoir. The city has long used Sulphur Springs' water to boost the reservoir's drinking water supply, but the extra 2 million gallons would be released downriver.

Because cold-sensitive manatees often head to springs during winter, wildlife officials fear the diversion would leave manatees without adequate refuge.

But water district scientists studied manatee needs while developing its "minimum flows and level" requirements for the lower Hillsborough.

They established rules that will ensure an adequate "thermal flow" at Sulphur Springs during the winter. Moreover, studies indicate the river is not a major winter gathering spot for manatees.

The habitat that would be most affected by the diversion is a roughly 100-yard spring run from Sulphur Springs to the Hillsborough, where manatees usually have access only at high tide.

It makes little sense to sacrifice the ecological recovery of several miles of river for a length of waterway no longer than a football field and of questionable value to manatees.

Water district Executive Director David Moore estimates it could cost $12 million to $20 million to come up with a venture that could replace the 2 million gallons from Sulphur Springs.

And it is unrealistic to ask Tampa, which last year had to ban yard watering because of water shortages, to further reduce supply.

As wildlife officials review the matter, they should consider the warning contained in a 1985 report on the Hillsborough River to the Hillsborough County Planning Commission, which detailed how the river was being choked to death by the lack of fresh water and the oxygen it supplies: "Without an ample supply of dissolved oxygen, the lower Hillsborough cannot sustain fish and wildlife populations of any meaningful magnitude."

After years of discussion, debate and delays, the community finally has devised a way to resuscitate the lower Hillsborough River. It would be a shame if state regulators stood in the way.

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