Funding will help restore water quality and natural systems, and create sustainable water supplies in the Southern Water Use Caution Area
The Florida Legislature passed the 2008-09 budget, including $15 million for the Southwest Florida Water Management District's West-Central Florida Water Restoration Action Plan (WRAP.)
More than 1.5 million people in this region will benefit from water supply development and environmental restoration in the Southern Water Use Caution Area (SWUCA). The eight-county region will gain 211 million gallons of water per day by 2025. Environmental restoration as well as additional water supplies will meet the growing demands of the region, sustaining its economic health.
Water resource protection, restoration and sustainability are critical in the SWUCA region where decades of groundwater over-pumping have resulted in lowered aquifer levels leading to saltwater intrusion, reduced flows in the Peace River and lowered lake levels.
WRAP components include a number of environmental restoration and water supply projects including the Facilitating Agricultural Resource Management Systems (FARMS) program, which is a public/private agricultural best management practices cost-share reimbursement program, and projects to develop alternative water supplies to meet the long-term needs in the SWUCA.
Over the next 17 years, the WRAP will cost approximately $1.8 billion. Funding from the state will help meet the minimum flow requirements for the upper Peace River, slow salt water intrusion, provide for improved lake levels and water quality along the Lake Wales Ridge, and ensure sufficient water supplies for all existing and projected reasonable and beneficial uses.
"In this incredibly tight budget year we are extremely grateful that this project was included, which will aid in efforts to recover the Southern Water Use Caution Area," said David Moore, the District's executive director.
The District has a number of partners in the WRAP, including the Peace River/Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority, Polk County, the U.S. Congress, the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, other local governments and the agricultural community. These regional partnerships are critical to meeting future water supply demands and protecting the region's natural resources.
"I would personally like to thank Governor Crist, who included the WRAP in his budget, our budget sponsors Senator JD Alexander and Representative Bill Galvano, and all of the legislators throughout our District who have helped make WRAP funding a reality," said Neil Combee the District's Governing Board vice chair.