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After raising the levels of four lakes, Swiftmud considers a permanent linkup of local water bodies. The $812,000 proposal would transport water from Lake Pretty to other lakes that need a boost.
By JOSH ZIMMER, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 21, 2003
KEYSTONE -- The encounter had the feel of a backyard weekend barbecue.
Wearing a big smile, Eileen Hart schmoozed with neighbors and official guests by her dock off Lake Juanita. They were talking about, of all things, water.
Lake Juanita is the latest Keystone-area water body to benefit from an infusion of piped water from Lake Pretty. Now Hart's drought-battered lake, also near the heavily pumped Cosme-Odessa well field, has a lot of it.
"Your neighbors all okay?" asked Gary Kuhl, who is heading the temporary project as operations manager for the Southwest Florida Water Management District.
"They're all dancing," said Hart, as water gushed out of a large pipe running off Crawley Road.
Currently in phase two, the project is turning out to be a public relations boon for Swiftmud, and it has transformed four local lakes to date. Before the project began, some of the lakes had fallen well below minimum levels, according to Hillsborough County Water Team adviser Scott Emery.
The first phase began late last year when Swiftmud, pressured by lakefront homeowners along Lake Church, agreed to repeat a temporary pipeline project used during the El Nino in 1997-98. The project pumped excess water from Lake Pretty westward to Horse Lake, Lake Raleigh and Lake Rogers.
The project now extends to Lake Juanita. Depending on water supplies, other lakes may be added as well, Kuhl said.
Kuhl led a tour of the network Monday for members of Swiftmud's Northwest Hillsborough River Basin Board, which to date has agreed to contribute $500,000 toward the project. Swiftmud governing board member Maggie Dominguez also showed up.
Tampa Bay Water, which put up $164,000 for phase one, also is supervising a long-term Rocky Creek study that could lead to a permanent pipeline. The results of the current effort will help determine whether a permanent pipeline is built, Tampa Bay Water project manager Kathleen Coates said.
Surrounded by Swiftmud representatives, Dominguez, basin board members Mercy DiMaio and Maritza Rovina-Forino visited stops along the network, asking questions and showing their excitement at the apparent success.
DiMaio, selected last summer by Gov. Jeb Bush, said she wanted to see the lakes first-hand so she could better understand the issues coming before the board.
"Here we vote on all these things having to do with lakes," she said while standing near the whirring electric water pump at a private residence on Lake Pretty. "I'm all for helping. I just want to know what we're helping."
The tour entered Rogers Park, where members got to see the effect of pumping on Lakes Raleigh and Rogers. Rogers, which recharges the Cosme-Odessa well field, was down to 26 feet this summer. Earlier this month it registered at 37.1 feet.
Rick Voakes, operations manager for St. Petersburg's water treatment facilities, touted the the proposed $812,000 long-term pipeline project.
"If you have three to four bad years in a row it'd be nice to have a permanent system in place," he said.
Despite unseasonal rainfall and reduced well field pumping, water levels would not have come this far if not for the pipeline, Emery and Kuhl agreed.
One of the big question marks remains Lake Church, where residents sparked the temporary project but still may not see any of the water. Recent El Nino rains have raised the shoreline to near minimum levels.
Kuhl said Swiftmud will monitor Lake Rogers to see if there is enough water to transfer to Lake Church. Homeowner Helen Wehle said extra water could help surrounding water bodies, such as Lake Williams.
On the northern end of the project, Kuhl said the district just got permission from the county's Environmental Protection Commission to let water flow from Lake Juanita into Rainbow Lake, which feeds Little Moon Lake. Kuhl also is talking with Keystone Lake residents about the possibility of pumping water to Lake Calm.
-- Josh Zimmer covers Keystone/Odessa, Citrus Park and the environment. He can be reached at 269-5314 or zimmer@sptimes.com .