News Releases

CLEARWATER, Fla. (Jan. 23, 2023) – Today, Tampa Bay Water’s board of directors selected the final route segment for the new South Hillsborough Pipeline, which will carry additional water to southern Hillsborough County once completed in 2028.

At its September meeting, the board selected the “blue” route for Segment A and considered Segment B, but deferred action to allow Hillsborough County additional time to review the route studies. At today’s meeting, the board approved the “blue” route for Segment B, which together with Segment A, represents the lowest cost route, estimated at $417 million.

The new South Hillsborough Pipeline will be approximately 26 miles long, up to 72 inches in diameter and will carry up to 65 million gallons per day (mgd) of additional drinking water to the southern Hillsborough service area. It will start at the Tampa Bay Regional Surface Water Treatment Plant in Brandon, connect to Hillsborough County’s Lithia Water Treatment Plant and end at the County’s new connection point at Balm Riverview and Balm roads.

Segment B connects to Segment A near Fish Hawk Boulevard, just west of Fish Hawk Creek. It heads south to Boyette Road, then intersects Balm Boyette Road and continues south to Hillsborough County’s new connection point at the intersection of Balm and Balm Riverview roads.

Tampa Bay Water’s engineering consultants will now complete a final design to determine the specific location of the pipeline within the approved route corridor, estimate the final cost and determine the schedule for Segment B. Construction of Segment A of the pipeline is scheduled to begin in late 2024 or early 2025 and be completed in early 2028.

Tampa Bay Water’s engineering consultants analyzed a total of 10 routes (five northern segments and five southern segments), which resulted in a shortlist of three top-ranked consolidated routes. The routes were evaluated against 11 selection criteria, which included non-cost factors such as public inconvenience, safety, environmental impacts and permitting, as well as project cost.

For more information about the project, please visit tampabaywater.org/shp.

About Tampa Bay Water

Tampa Bay Water is the largest wholesale water supplier in Florida, providing high-quality drinking water to its members, who in turn, supply water to more than 2.5 million residents of the Tampa Bay area. Tampa Bay Water member governments include Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties and the cities of New Port Richey, St. Petersburg and Tampa. To learn more, visit tampabaywater.org.