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Alafia Board Sets Priorities

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By YVETTE C. HAMMETT

yhammett@tampatrib.com

Published: October 8, 2008

TAMPA - In a climate of listing budgets, the Alafia River Basin Board on Thursday set priorities for 2010 meant to buoy conservation efforts.

Spending money on conservation education is a lot less expensive than large capital projects, but still shows results to the taxpayers - more people using less water, board members said.

And the less water people use, the less water must be pumped out of rivers and streams to accommodate a growing region.

The board oversees a budget for water resource projects in southern and eastern Hillsborough County, as well as in Polk County. It is an arm of the Southwest Florida Water Management District. Its budget is expected to be about $10 million in 2010.

Other priorities include:

•Continuing to look at any needed renovations at Medard Reservoir in Turkey Creek, specifically related to emergency preparedness, should there ever be a berm breach that could cause flooding downstream.

•Seeking alternative water-supply projects, such as expansion of reclaimed water use, using creative funding to pay for the projects.

•Promoting a regional approach to funding projects. Board members named as an example an expanded Tampa Electric Co. plant in Polk that will pipe reclaimed water from Lakeland and Valrico.

•Developing new water sources and implementing a recovery strategy for the Southern Water Use Caution Area, which includes southern Hillsborough. In that area, overpumping has dropped aquifer 30 feet in some areas.

Reporter Yvette C. Hammett can be reached at (813) 865-1566.

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