It makes infinitely more sense to better manage the Tampa Bay region's existing water resources than to risk further damage to the environment by pumping to meet the ever-growing need for water. Area officials, by agreeing to that strategy last month, took another important step toward improving the region's approach to water policy. The plan calls for using treated wastewater in a swap to augment the clean water supply, and for rehydrating the entire region with a glut of treated water from Tampa. While it faces many regulatory, environmental and financial hurdles, the plan is a welcome change in thinking and a show of regional unity.
The region's two leading water agencies, Tampa Bay Water and the Southwest Florida Water Management District, gave conceptual approval to a broad plan for generating new supplies using reclaimed water. The idea calls for skimming 14-million gallons a day from the Tampa Bypass Canal and the Alafia and Hillsborough Rivers, to be used for drinking water, and replacing it - downstream - with the same amount of treated wastewater. The region would have more drinking water without having to sink a single well, and replacing it on a 1-to-1 basis would keep the same amount of water flowing uninterrupted into Tampa Bay. Treated wastewater would also be piped into fast-growing north Hillsborough and Pasco counties, saving millions of gallons of fresh water that now goes to irrigate lawns.
If the plan comes together as promised, the region could meet its target to produce up to 12-million additional gallons of water per day without resorting to new groundwater pumping, a significant technical and political achievement. Beyond the immediate benefit to the environment, the use of treated water could lessen the focus on pumping as an option, making conservation the guiding principle of new water supply projects. Using treated wastewater to replenish wetlands sucked dry by past overpumping is an important symbolic acknowledgement of the need to move away from the past. Officials also say their estimate of supplying treated water to 30,000 customers in Tampa, Hillsborough and Pasco is conservative. Whatever the number, having thousands of homes and businesses give a second or third use to a gallon of water would be a tremendous help. It also would make people more conservation-minded.
The decision allows regional policymakers to begin addressing regulatory and environmental concerns, and to approach the federal government for help in financing the $213-million (or more) project. How much Washington pays for the pumps and pipes will affect the costs to be borne by local taxpayers, including the rates customers would pay for wastewater. Environmental studies also need to determine how the plan would affect wetlands, the rivers and Tampa Bay.
But already the planning accomplished two things. Water managers moved away from groundwater pumping as the first resort to generate supplies. They also showed a sense of regional cooperation. The city of Tampa, under Mayor Pam Iorio, elected last year, moved quickly to end the city's reluctance to share its treated wastewater. "(This) is a resource that needs to be utilized for the benefit of the whole Tampa Bay region," Iorio said. Of course, the city will make money by selling its treated wastewater. But the deal has broad environmental potential beyond any monetary benefit. This is the right mind-set for growing communities on Florida's west coast.
