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County looks at water supply in workshop
By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK © St. Petersburg Times, published January 13, 2001 BROOKSVILLE -- Hernando County commissioners have faxed a letter to Gov. Jeb Bush, encouraging his full support of the state's effort to buy land surrounding Weeki Wachee Spring from the city of St. Petersburg. "Preservation of this resource, and the natural habitats around it, (is) critical to our future," Chairman Chris Kingsley wrote in the letter. A spokeswoman for the governor said Bush had not seen the letter as of late Friday. During a workshop Thursday, commissioners discussed the need to preserve all the county's water resources to avoid problems as growth continues. Weeki Wachee Spring is just one of the areas they want to protect. "Water here is available," Kingsley said after receiving a report from E.D. "Sonny" Vergara, executive director of the Southwest Florida Water Management District, known as Swiftmud. "It's imperative upon us to make sure we manage our water resources in a proper manner. "We need to make sure we lock up our resources to make sure they're used for Hernando County's future," Kingsley said. Concerns about Hernando County's water supply continue to emerge every time a developer proposes a new subdivision, Commissioner Nancy Robinson noted. "A question that specifically comes up these days is, if water supply is an issue, if we're in a drought, if we have to conserve and we're in a state of growth, the word moratorium pops up," Robinson said. "It was clearly explained to us the process of conservation and that Hernando County clearly has an adequate supply of water." Because of drought conditions, residents must use water with more care, Vergara said. But the stress on Hernando County differs from that in other counties, he said, because the county has enough water at its sources. Unlike Tampa, Vergara said, extra construction here "isn't going to place such an additional demand on the system that will cause it to fail. So all this talk about moratoriums in water is, I think, inappropriate." As part of the conservation effort, Vergara suggested that commissioners adopt seasonal water utility rates and increase the fines assessed against residents who don't follow watering restrictions. Commissioner Betty Whitehouse said both ideas seemed logical. At the same time, she said, the commission wants Swiftmud to penalize larger users -- especially mines -- if they use more water than their permits allow. "There is some evidence they (mines) have gone over," Whitehouse said. "It's important in this tight time of drought that they're conscientious about it." Robinson concurred, and has asked Swiftmud officials to report back to the commission about water use at the mines. She called the issue an "excellent question that hasn't been answered yet." During the workshop, commissioners also received reports about the county water, sewer and waste utilities. They discussed such issues as when the county should allow septic systems and when it should demand a subdivision be hooked up to sewers. "It gave us some direction on how to go, as far as further development," Kingsley said. "It provided me with further justification that the county is going in the right direction with larger subregional plants. Whenever we deal with density, we're making sure they're hooked up to the system." The commission will have its next workshop at 1 p.m. Thursday. The scheduled topics are government buildings and economic development.
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