Post by jonsdigs on Dec 21, 2006 22:58:05 GMT -5
Cities, counties look up, down for water
Joint study seeks ways to increase drinking supply
By Brittany Wallman and David Fleshler
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Posted December 20 2006
FORT LAUDERDALE ยท The search for a new drinking water supply for many of Broward County's largest cities moves to northern Palm Beach County under a half-million-dollar study approved Tuesday.
Fort Lauderdale will lead an effort to boost the regional water supply, under terms of a deal that brings together Hollywood, Plantation, Sunrise, Pompano Beach, and Broward and Palm Beach counties.
Together the governments will pay engineering firm Hazen and Sawyer $445,000 to determine whether it is possible and practical to divert rainwater in northern Palm into a rock-pit reservoir called L-8. If so, officials plan to use it to recharge the Biscayne aquifer, South Florida's main source of drinking water.
South Florida isn't lacking in water, just methods of obtaining it cheaply.
Water planners say South Florida is using the cleanest and cheapest source of drinking water, the underground Biscayne aquifer, to its limits.
Large water providers such as Fort Lauderdale and Sunrise, both of which sell water to surrounding cities, are under pressure by the South Florida Water Management District to identify where they'll get extra water in the future. Fort Lauderdale alone has 250,000 customers and processes 145 million gallons of water a day, according to the utility.
The region's underground water supply is tied in with the Everglades and thus requires careful planning to avoid disastrous environmental effects.
The L-8 Reservoir would be used to hold Palm Beach County rainwater pumped from the surrounding area during rainy season. It would be channeled south using canals or pipelines, according to John Mulliken, director of water supply planning for the South Florida Water Management District. The rainwater would be used to replenish the Biscayne aquifer.
"It has a lot of potential," he said. "Our board has encouraged the utilities to move forward. We're hoping this is another piece of the solution for long-term water supply for South Florida."
The feasibility study would answer a lot of the basic questions, like how much water this would supply, at what times of year would it be available, which cities would benefit most, and how would water reach the cities.
At the Palm Beach County end, Mulliken said the diversion of rainwater to L-8 would reduce harmful discharges of freshwater into the naturally salty Lake Worth Lagoon.
Fort Lauderdale city commissioners Tuesday approved the regional approach and the city's contribution of $80,909. The consultant will also consider the use of partially treated wastewater for lawn irrigation, instead of the current widespread practice of sprinkling lawns with fully treated drinking water.
Hazen and Sawyer will examine whether the two ideas would cost less and work better than another option: the tapping of the Floridan aquifer, another underground water source that is not as clean as Biscayne aquifer water and would require reverse osmosis to eliminate salt.
The water district is working on a planning document now, the Lower East Coast Water Supply Plan, and Fort Lauderdale staff warned in a Dec. 4 memo to the city manager that the supply plan will likely show "that there will be insufficient water from the city's historical water supply source [Biscayne aquifer] to meet future water demand."
Making matters more dire, the level of Lake Okeechobee may be lowered because of the water district's concerns about the integrity of its dike, and that would put a pinch on water supply immediately, says the memo written by assistant utilities services director Paul Bohlander.
The region is currently on voluntary water restrictions, because of lower than usual rainfall.
Article
Joint study seeks ways to increase drinking supply
By Brittany Wallman and David Fleshler
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Posted December 20 2006
FORT LAUDERDALE ยท The search for a new drinking water supply for many of Broward County's largest cities moves to northern Palm Beach County under a half-million-dollar study approved Tuesday.
Fort Lauderdale will lead an effort to boost the regional water supply, under terms of a deal that brings together Hollywood, Plantation, Sunrise, Pompano Beach, and Broward and Palm Beach counties.
Together the governments will pay engineering firm Hazen and Sawyer $445,000 to determine whether it is possible and practical to divert rainwater in northern Palm into a rock-pit reservoir called L-8. If so, officials plan to use it to recharge the Biscayne aquifer, South Florida's main source of drinking water.
South Florida isn't lacking in water, just methods of obtaining it cheaply.
Water planners say South Florida is using the cleanest and cheapest source of drinking water, the underground Biscayne aquifer, to its limits.
Large water providers such as Fort Lauderdale and Sunrise, both of which sell water to surrounding cities, are under pressure by the South Florida Water Management District to identify where they'll get extra water in the future. Fort Lauderdale alone has 250,000 customers and processes 145 million gallons of water a day, according to the utility.
The region's underground water supply is tied in with the Everglades and thus requires careful planning to avoid disastrous environmental effects.
The L-8 Reservoir would be used to hold Palm Beach County rainwater pumped from the surrounding area during rainy season. It would be channeled south using canals or pipelines, according to John Mulliken, director of water supply planning for the South Florida Water Management District. The rainwater would be used to replenish the Biscayne aquifer.
"It has a lot of potential," he said. "Our board has encouraged the utilities to move forward. We're hoping this is another piece of the solution for long-term water supply for South Florida."
The feasibility study would answer a lot of the basic questions, like how much water this would supply, at what times of year would it be available, which cities would benefit most, and how would water reach the cities.
At the Palm Beach County end, Mulliken said the diversion of rainwater to L-8 would reduce harmful discharges of freshwater into the naturally salty Lake Worth Lagoon.
Fort Lauderdale city commissioners Tuesday approved the regional approach and the city's contribution of $80,909. The consultant will also consider the use of partially treated wastewater for lawn irrigation, instead of the current widespread practice of sprinkling lawns with fully treated drinking water.
Hazen and Sawyer will examine whether the two ideas would cost less and work better than another option: the tapping of the Floridan aquifer, another underground water source that is not as clean as Biscayne aquifer water and would require reverse osmosis to eliminate salt.
The water district is working on a planning document now, the Lower East Coast Water Supply Plan, and Fort Lauderdale staff warned in a Dec. 4 memo to the city manager that the supply plan will likely show "that there will be insufficient water from the city's historical water supply source [Biscayne aquifer] to meet future water demand."
Making matters more dire, the level of Lake Okeechobee may be lowered because of the water district's concerns about the integrity of its dike, and that would put a pinch on water supply immediately, says the memo written by assistant utilities services director Paul Bohlander.
The region is currently on voluntary water restrictions, because of lower than usual rainfall.
Article