Pipe water from river? Prepare for an uproar

By GREG HAMILTON

© St. Petersburg Times, published January 21, 2001

Water pipes and the Withlacoochee River -- words that give you chills when they appear in the same sentence. Toss the name Withlacoochee State Forest into that same sentence and you really start to worry about the mental health of the speaker.

At last week's workshop on water or, rather, the lack of same, County Commissioner Jim Fowler tossed out an idea that was better left deep on the back burner with the Edsel and New Coke.

The notion was that if and when water ever returns to the Withlacoochee River, beyond the trickle that flows now, we should look into some way of diverting and saving some of it rather than allowing it to meander into the Gulf of Mexico.

Leave aside for the moment the fact that fresh water is critical to the ecological balance of the coastal estuary, not just to keep marine life flourishing but to hold back saltwater intrusion into our groundwater. The real horror is what could happen if massive pipelines ever connect to the Withlacoochee.

Fowler suggested that in times of high water, such as in '98 when floodwaters inundated the lakes region, we could divert about 1 percent of the overflow into retention areas inland, such as in the state forest.

Hmmm. Pipelines, the river, the state forest. Somewhere, legendary Citrus County environmentalist David Walker is spinning in his grave.

While there is merit to exploring ways to retain overflow of fresh water, this one is fraught with potential dangers.

Under Fowler's idea, the pipes would run east to west and the water would recharge the aquifer. Again, leave aside some basic facts of recharge, such as that the river recharges the aquifer directly through holes that are springs when the aquifer is high and sinkholes when the levels fall, and that holding ponds of water tend to evaporate. The real fear is that the parched politicians south of here will get wind of the pipelines. It would only take an elbow in the pipe to send the water south.

If you really want to see some fireworks, mention pumping water from Citrus County to Pinellas and Hillsborough counties. Nearly a decade ago, the Times uncovered a plan by Florida Power to get into the water business by running pipelines from Lake Rousseau and digging deep wells near the Citrus/Hernando border.

The resulting uproar was heard all the way to Tallahassee and drove Florida Power into a full retreat. It also helped spawn the political career of a then-small town water activist named Nancy Argenziano. Maybe you've heard of her?

As troubling as Fowler's idea is, it was only one of several oddities at the water summit. Fowler also questioned the need for water restrictions at all, noting that all of the water that God created is still on the planet -- it's just in the wrong places.

I might add that all of God's gold is still on the planet, but not enough of it is in my bank account.

Monroe "Al" Coogler of the Swiftmud governing board got into the act by defending the over-pumping by golf courses that his agency is allowing to continue during this drought. Last month, the Times revealed that several Citrus County courses are pumping millions of gallons of fresh water each day beyond their already generous permitted amounts. The agency's answer has been to consider reworking the permits to allow them to pump even more.

Preaching to the audience and the cameras (wonder what office he's preparing to run for?), Coogler blasted the media for being divisive and turning neighbor against neighbor. We're all in this together, he proclaimed.

I guess "all" doesn't include the county's largest water users, just us folks with a little plot of front lawn that has turned to hay. The big pumpers, including Black Diamond, where Coogler happens to live, should be allowed to use as much as they want.

County Commissioners Gary Bartell and Vicki Phillips urged a dual approach, educating residents about water conservation while strictly enforcing watering restrictions. Fowler disagreed, saying education alone would be enough. He suggested billboards showing photos of dried-up lake beds.

We already have a similar system in place along the highways -- they're called speed limit signs. They tell you what the law allows, and they are not mere suggestions. If you choose to ignore them, and you get caught, you get a hefty fine. That usually gets an offender's attention.

It's great that the members of the various government entities are at least taking this issue seriously enough to meet and toss around ideas. And, there is a place in the state forest for some of those ideas. It's called the Citrus County landfill.

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