The Southwest Florida Water Management District has revised and extended the water shortage emergency order for the Peace River/Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority to protect the drinking water supply for more than 250,000 residents. The order is now scheduled to expire on October 26, 2008 unless it is rescinded or extended by District’s Governing Board or executive director. The order was slated to expire June 25, 2008.
The executive order signed Wednesday will allow the Authority to continue to increase withdrawals from the Peace River to store additional water in its existing reservoir and two aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) wellfields.
The authority’s service area includes the City of North Port as well as portions of Charlotte, DeSoto, Sarasota and Manatee counties (Manatee County currently does not receive water from the authority.) The Peace River is the Authority’s primary source to meet the drinking water needs of its customers. During periods of high river flows, the Authority typically stores untreated water in its reservoir and stores treated water in its ASR wellfields for later treatment and use during the dry season or whenever river withdrawals are not sufficient to meet drinking water demands.
The Authority has been able to divert more than 1.4 billion gallons of water more than its water use permit would have normally allowed since the emergency order was issued on Aug. 13, 2007. As of June 23, the Authority has 304 million gallons of water in storage.
However, compared to a total storage capacity of about 8 billion gallons, this is an extremely low amount to have in storage. To keep meeting the public health, welfare and safety needs of its service area, the Authority needs to continue capturing as much surface water as possible.
The newest modification also includes two temporary, seasonal adjustments for the water use permit. First, the maximum amount of water withdrawn from the Peace River is changed from 10 percent to 12 percent of the previous day’s average daily flow.
The second modification changes the point at which an even higher percentage of flow can be withdrawn. If the previous day’s combined flow should go above 1,370 cfs, the temporary permit modifications would allow the Authority to withdraw 164.4 cfs (12 percent of 1,370 cfs) plus 15 percent of flow above 1,370 cfs. For example, if the previous day’s combined daily flow was 2,000 cfs, the Authority could withdraw 258.9 cfs.
The emergency order is consistent with the proposed minimum flow for the Lower Peace River. The newest modification maintains a permit requirement that does not allow the Authority to withdraw any water from the river when the previous day’s flow is below 90 cfs.
This is the fourth time the District has extended and modified the water shortage emergency order first issued Aug. 13, 2007.