Tampa Bay Water’s mandate is to unequivocally provide water to its member governments, and as the population in the area continues to grow, the agency is exploring options to keep pace with water demands. This is especially important in southern Hillsborough County, which is within the Southern Water Use Caution Area, an area where no new water can be permitted or withdrawn without providing a net benefit to the aquifer.
At its January meeting, the board approved two agreements to acquire unused permitted groundwater capacity in south Hillsborough County from properties that have changed from agricultural to residential or utility use. These acquisitions will help meet water demands in this fast-growing area and add water supply to an area where new permit quantities have been capped since the 1990s. During the acquisition and quantity transfer, 10% of the aquifer impact from the original permits are returned to the aquifer, providing a net benefit to help environmental recovery in the region.
The first agreement is to acquire 3.1 – 5.1 million gallons of water per day (mgd) from five properties with permits held by Land Reserve and Farmland Reserve at a cost of $3.66 per gallon of permitted capacity acquired. The final costs and quantities will be determined during permitting by the Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) but will range from $11.4 to $18.7 million, plus up to $50,000 in documented transaction costs for each of the five permits. If approved by the District, the water quantities will transfer to the Balm Farm Water Use Permit, which will form the base supply capacity of the potential South Hillsborough Wellfield.
The second agreement is to acquire 344,800 gallons per day (gpd) of permitted quantity from a Hillsborough County property south of the C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir for $1.26 million. In November, the board approved an agreement to acquire 590,500 gpd of permitted groundwater capacity from Tampa Electric Company (TECO) property along State Road 60 for $1.7 million plus up to $50,000 in transaction costs. Both acquired capacities would be transferred to the existing South-central Hillsborough Regional Wellfield if the District approves a permit modification.
Groundwater modeling shows that adding the acquired capacity from both TECO and Hillsborough County to Tampa Bay Water’s existing permit will increase the annual average quantity from 24.95 mgd to 26.922 mgd while still providing a 10% net benefit to the aquifer.
“This is very cost-effective since no additional infrastructure is needed and the water will be available to meet South Hillsborough County demands as soon as the permits are modified,” said Warren Hogg, Tampa Bay Water’s chief science officer.
