The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board Tuesday renewed and modified a water use permit (WUP) for the City of Lakeland.
The modified permit increases the permitted quantities for the city. The previous annual average permitted quantity was 30.2 million gallons of water per day (mgd.) The new permitted quantity is 35.03 mgd.
The quantity was increased because the permit expiration date was changed from 2014 to 2028, with a corresponding increase in projected population from 188,386 residents to 235,182 residents.
The city applied for a permit renewal and modification after working with the District and Tampa Electric Company (TECO) on the Regional Reclaimed Water Partnership Initiative. As part of the initiative, the District, city, and TECO have agreed in concept to the city providing 4.8 mgd of reclaimed water to TECO. The reclaimed water will enable TECO to expand its power generation capacity at its power plant in southwest Polk County and will offset TECO’s use of groundwater.
The permit requires the city to provide the District with a formal written agreement for the delivery of the reclaimed water to TECO by March 31, 2009 and for TECO to begin using the reclaimed water by Dec. 31, 2012.
The City of Lakeland’s permit expires Dec. 16, 2028.