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2 water agencies might mediate

Swiftmud and Tampa Bay Water do not agree on the use of a new desalination plant.

By BRIDGET HALL GRUMET
Published July 28, 2005

DADE CITY - The water wars have been replaced by a war of words.

But County Commissioner Ted Schrader, who is chairman of Tampa Bay Water's board of directors, says the squabbling will likely go to mediation soon.

That mediation option "was put in place to avoid the water wars and avoid the litigation," Schrader told his fellow commissioners Tuesday at the County Commission meeting at the historic courthouse in Dade City.

At issue is how much drinking water will be produced by Tampa Bay Water's desalination plant once it becomes operational in late 2006.

The plant was designed to produce 25-million gallons a day, with the possibility of another 10-million gallons a day through an expansion. The Southwest Florida Water Management District pledged $85-million toward the project based on that understanding.

But Tampa Bay Water's computer models suggest the plant should be operated at just 15-million gallons a day, supplemented by other, cheaper water sources.

That has raised Swiftmud's ire and fueled speculation about a return to more groundwater pumping, a dreaded notion amid the environmentally scarred well fields of Pasco County.

Schrader told commissioners Tuesday those fears are premature.

"Neither I nor Commissioner (Ann) Hildebrand," Pasco's representatives on Tampa Bay Water's board, "are advocating increased groundwater pumping," Schrader said. "I don't know where that is coming from."

He said Tampa Bay Water has developed other water sources, including river water and a 15-billion gallon reservoir. Tampa Bay Water, the entity that provides most of the region's drinking water, is required to reduce groundwater pumping to 90-million gallons a day by 2007.

For the past year, the agency has averaged 86.56-million gallons a day.

County Attorney Robert Sumner questioned whether Tampa Bay Water's computer model conflicts with its requirement to reduce groundwater pumping. But Schrader said Tampa Bay Water plans to meet the pumping reduction goals.

Hildebrand said she was optimistic that mediation could resolve the dispute between the agencies.

"I am very confident the war on words ... , we've had with some member governments, will be abated," she said.

In other action Tuesday, commissioners agreed to ask the Legislature to create a special park district for Lake Padgett Estates in Land O'Lakes.

More than 95 percent of the residents who voted this month supported creating an independent district to run the neighborhood's parks so they would not be open to the public.

Bridget Hall Grumet covers Pasco County government. She can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6244 or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6244. Her e-mail address is bhall@sptimes.com

[Last modified July 28, 2005, 01:10:15]