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NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CLEARWATER, Fla. (Jan. 25, 2022) – The Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) today renewed Tampa Bay Water’s Consolidated Water Use Permit for the region's groundwater wellfields for another 10 years, confirming the sustainability of this important water supply. The permit was renewed at its current rate of 90 million gallons per day (mgd) annual average.

“Over 20 years ago, we said we would create a diversified water supply network that balances the needs of the environment with the needs of the community,” said Chuck Carden, Tampa Bay Water’s general manager. “This renewal shows we accomplished what we said we would do, and that groundwater can be withdrawn in an environmentally sound manner.”

When Tampa Bay Water was formed in 1998, the member governments that created the new utility sold their wellfields to Tampa Bay Water to create a single water supply network, and the individual permits for the 11 wellfields in northern Tampa Bay were combined into the consolidated permit. This ended the decades long “water wars” by eliminating economic competition among the member governments and creating a truly regional utility.

The District lowered Tampa Bay Water’s permitted amount for these wellfields from their individual permitted total of 191 mgd to the consolidated average of 90 mgd. In exchange, the District co-funded the capital costs of developing alternative water supplies, including desalinated seawater and surface water. This enabled Tampa Bay Water to reduce its reliance on groundwater resulting in the environmental health of lakes, wetlands, and other surface water bodies across the northern Tampa Bay recovering.

Tampa Bay Water carefully monitors and evaluates the environment in and around regional wellfields using methodologies established in cooperation with the District. Tampa Bay Water developed a multi-year Recovery Assessment of environmental health and the effects of wellfield pumping reductions – the first of its kind performed in the state of Florida at a regional scale. A total of 1,360 lakes and wetlands were studied through this evaluation that proves wetlands and lakes have recovered to their fullest extent and most aquifer levels in the area are at their highest in more than 40 years.

“The success of the region’s environmental recovery is a testament to what government agencies can do when we work together, and together we will continue to be good stewards of our environment for future generations,” Carden said.

Learn more about Tampa Bay Water’s environmental success story.

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.