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Is Manatee County's Long-Term Water Outlook as Rosy as It Claims?

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BRADENTON – At Tuesday's BOCC meeting, Manatee County Commissioners were delivered a presentation by Water Division Manager Mark Simpson. Simpson walked members through the process of what it takes to deliver potable water from the source to residential use. However, there seemed to be as much to learn from what he didn't say, as what he did.

In his presentation, Simpson identified the two primary sources: groundwater (retrieved from well pumping) and surface water (retrieved from Lake Manatee). Each has to go through separate processes to become the final product: water that is safe for Manatee County residents to drink.

Simpson described the pump and storage facilities consisting of high-service pump stations and booster stations that secure the 34.7 million gallons (MG) the county maintains for storage.

The presentation also covered the cities and customers that make up the other sources we sell to and can borrow from in emergency situations: City of Bradenton, Longboat Key and Sarasota County.

Before Simpson concluded the presentation, Commission Chair Betsy Benac wanted Simpson to confirm that criticisms from the public about the county not doing enough to protect the its water supply were unfounded.

Benac said, "We have enough water to take us to 2034, right?" Then Benac asked Simpson to tell the public that new supplies are paid for from the Facility Investment Fees (FIF). Benac said, "Not just the utilities going to the development, but the additional facility is also paid for by new growth, right?"

Simpson answered yes to both.

When Simpson left with Michael Gore, Director of Manatee County utilities, I caught up with him to ask more about the specifics of that exchange. In his presentation, Simpson had mentioned Buffalo Creek wells had registers of saltwater, but didn't say any more.

Saltwater intrusion causes the movement of saline water into freshwater aquifers, which can lead to contamination of drinking water. Because saltwater is denser and has a higher water pressure, it can push inland beneath the freshwater source. Saltwater intrusion occurs to some degree naturally in most coastal aquifers, but groundwater pumping from coastal freshwater wells increases the process.

Lake-Manatee-Dam_1.JPG

Lake Manatee Dam. Phot Credit: Manatee County Environmental Management Department

I asked Simpson why when he was addressing the perils of a sufficient water supply, he didn't mention saltwater intrusion. Simpson then asked me what I meant. I asked if he was familiar with the growing concerns over the number of wells from Key West to Tallahassee that are struggling with saltwater intrusion (the biggest threat to Florida's water supply) and whether he agreed that the principal reason we get saltwater intrusion is from over-pumping. Simpson acknowledged that to be the case.

During Simpson's presentation, he mentioned the county was in a supply well partnership with Mosaic Mining, and that Mosaic uses the groundwater while the county's primary source is surface water.

I asked Simpson if the cost of harvesting surface water and groundwater were different by more than just the cost in processing. I knew the answer because a few years ago I profiled Tampa Bay Water (TBW): Hillsborough County's water supplier, a facility Simpson praised in his presentation. TBW figures identify the cost of harvesting surface water compared to groundwater as about twice the amount. Simpson agreed the costs were not the same.

I asked why Mosaic got their 70 million gallons a day (MGD) from cheaper and cleaner groundwater, while the county spent more by harvesting surface water; and whether Mosaic's excessive pumping could be threatening to the county's supply by contributing to saltwater intrusion. Simpson said, "No."

Simpson's presentation used FDOT population predictions as growing to 500,000 by 2025, which will require additional water sources, all at huge cost to the public. In fact, it took future costs to over $100 million in just the next few of years.

I asked Simpson if he could explain just what Benac meant by the FIF fees paying for the complete package of providing water to new development: "Since we have to purchase a bond to produce the plant and lay the infrastructure to deliver the water, how do you calculate all of the different costs, including the millions of dollars due to bond interest and then know what to charge those in the new developments?"

Simpson briefly spoke of plant design and anticipated population, but didn't really confirm his answer to Benac's question/statement that growth was paying for itself. I requested the documents to confirm that the FIF covered costs and am awaiting them.

In his presentation, Simpson also identified desalinization through reverse osmosis as a possible source for future water. Desalination is an expensive and fossil-fuel intensive process of converting saltwater to freshwater. My study of the TBW system–which includes desalination–has costs running far more than three times the cost of producing portable water from groundwater, not to mention the immeasurable cost of its huge environmental footprint.

The Hillsborough desalinization plant was also rife with other problems. After six years of construction delays, it went $50 million over budget only to produce much less water than promised. It would seem that the county still has a way to go in demonstrating that our long-term water supply is as safe as it was made to sound on Tuesday.


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