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 executive order signed Thursday will allow the Authority to continue withdrawals from the Peace River at an increased rate as a means of meeting current water demand and storing additional water in its reservoir and two aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) wellfields.
The order, which was first issued on Aug. 13, 2007 and slated to expire Oct. 26, 2008, will remain in effect until the reliability of the water supply is restored or it is rescinded by District’s Governing Board or executive director.
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 1.5 billion gallons of water more than its water use permit would have normally allowed since the emergency order was first issued.
As of Oct. 19, the Authority has 901 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 extended emergency order has been modified to include three temporary, seasonal adjustments for the water use permit.
The three adjustments are for the following time periods: Oct. 27 to April 19, April 20 to June 25 and June 26 to Oct. 26.
The maximum amount of water allowed to be withdrawn from the Peace River varies depending on the seasonal time period involved.
The emergency order is consistent with the proposed minimum flow for the Lower Peace River and maintains a requirement that does not allow the Authority to withdraw any water from the river when the previous day’s flow is below 90 cubic feet per second, the equivalent of 58.2 million gallons per day.
This is the fifth time the District has extended and modified the water shortage emergency order first issued Aug. 13, 2007.