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Swiftmud is working with Hillsborough to figure out why it fell so far short of lowering water use 5 percent.
By LISA GREENE
© St. Petersburg Times, published July 4, 2001
Severe drought conditions throughout the region prompted the Southwest Florida Water Management District to tell its member governments to cut their water use by 5 percent compared with the same period last year.
In comparing May and June with the same months last year, preliminary numbers show that the member governments of Tampa Bay Water dropped their water use by just more than 5 percent, said David Bracciano, Tampa Bay Water's conservation manager.
Those numbers could change slightly, but it appears that St. Petersburg, Pasco County and New Port Richey made the cut easily, and that Tampa hovered at 5 percent.
Only Hillsborough County failed to come close -- and the county could suffer some consequences. Hillsborough cut its water use by 1.7 percent in May and increased it by 1.3 percent in June, compared with May and June of last year.
Swiftmud staffers are working with Hillsborough to figure out why the county's water use didn't drop enough, Swiftmud Chairman Ronnie Duncan said. He said the board might consider suspending money to pay for cooperative projects with the county, such as educating schoolchildren about water conservation and restoring wetlands on the Hillsborough River.
Duncan and Bracciano suggested that fast-paced growth in Hillsborough has hurt the county's conservation efforts. Deputy Hillsborough County Administrator Pat Bean said she hadn't seen the numbers, and therefore couldn't offer specific reasons for the increase.
But she said the county is committed to pursuing reductions in water use. She said Hillsborough has historically encouraged conservation, from offering rebates for low-flow toilets to holding public education campaigns, and before the drought lent the cause urgency.
"I think as a county we have a long track record of pursuing conservation methods," she said. "When you've done a lot of things to achieve conservation, it makes it a little harder to find another 5 percent. But we're committed to getting there."
Swiftmud could fine governments that didn't meet the 5 percent cut up to $10,000 for each day they failed to meet the emergency order. The full board will decide what, if anything, it will do later this month.
St. Petersburg met the goal easily, cutting its water use by 11.5 percent in May and 8.8 percent in June. But the city had luck on its side.
Tampa Bay Water installed a new meter in the city's Cosme treatment plant in Hillsborough County that seems to give lower readings than the old one, said St. Petersburg utilities director Bill Johnson. He is unsure how much of St. Petersburg's reduction was attributable to the change.
"It's a combination of conservation and more accurate metering at the water plant," Johnson said, guessing that the meter change could account for as much as half the reduction. "I wouldn't want you to think it's all due to conservation."
- Times staff writers Bill Varian and Bryan Gilmer contributed to this report.