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Swiftmud warms to a second desal plant
By CRAIG PITTMAN, Times Staff Writer TAMPA -- Local water utility officials were given some good news Monday in their effort to build a second desalination plant in the Tampa Bay area. Officials with the Southwest Florida Water Management District, whose participation is necessary for the plant to be built, said they might have money available for the project. The encouraging words were a change from the situation earlier this year, when Swiftmud officials said they were inclined not to support the plant. Without Swiftmud's money, local water officials say, the plant can't be built. "We can't afford to do it on the backs of our ratepayers solely," said Pinellas County Commissioner Robert Stewart, vice chairman of the local utility, Tampa Bay Water. The plant is planned for a site where the Anclote River flows into the Gulf of Mexico. The area's first desalination plant is under construction in Apollo Beach in south Hillsborough County, and Swiftmud is paying $85-million of the $110-million cost. Before supporting a second plant, Swiftmud officials want Tampa Bay Water officials to join with them in building a massive system to recycle the more than 100-million gallons of used water wasted in the area every day. Swiftmud and Tampa Bay Water officials talked Monday during a joint session, an event that occurs so rarely the members of each board started off by introducing themselves. By the end, Tampa Bay Water officials were offered a ray of hope by Swiftmud executive director Sonny Vergara, who said "there are some funds available" that could be used for a second desal plant -- after Swiftmud has succeeded in reducing the waste. Swiftmud officials made it clear they are interested in building a vast system to increase the use of treated wastewater, known as reclaimed water, for irrigating lawns, farms and golf courses. In the Tampa Bay area, more than 100-million gallons a day of what could be used as reclaimed water gets dumped into waterways, Swiftmud officials say. Meanwhile, in the counties south of Tampa Bay water supplies are so low that "boats are now on dry land, lakes are drying up and cypress trees are falling over," said Ed Chance, a Swiftmud board member from Ellenton. Swiftmud sees reclaimed water as the salvation of an area covering more than 5,000 square miles and including all of Manatee, Sarasota, Hardee and De Soto counties and portions of Hillsborough, Charlotte, Polk and Highlands counties. Fixing the water needs in those areas will cost more than $1-billion, Swiftmud officials say. Tampa Bay Water officials told Swiftmud officials they believe there is enough money in Swiftmud's tax collections to pay for both reclaimed water and a second desal plant. Construction of the second plant is estimated at $204-million, in part because gulf water is saltier than the Tampa Bay water the Apollo Beach plant will be desalinating and requires more treatment. And if Tampa Bay Water decides to safeguard the near-shore environment by running its intake and discharge pipes miles offshore, that will boost the price tag to $327-million. Swiftmud member Monroe "Al" Coogler and Tampa Bay Water board member Chris Hart, a Hillsborough County commissioner, agreed the federal government should pay too, and both have volunteered to lobby Congress. In a separate meeting in Clearwater on Monday, the Tampa Bay Water board officially approved the contract to buy out the company building its first desal plant, Tampa Bay Desal, and become the sole owner of the half-finished plant. Tampa Bay Desal, which will be paid $10.3-million under a termination agreement, will remain on the job as a contractor to Tampa Bay Water to see the plant through. The board also approved an $86.3-million contract with Montana-based Bernard Construction Co. to build its new regional reservoir beginning next month. Construction will be complete in 2004. The reservoir, being built in southern Hillsborough County, will then take a year to fill with 15-billion gallons of water from the Alafia River, Hillsborough River and Tampa Bypass Canal. The board also began discussing its budget for next year that calls for raising the wholesale price of water by 26 cents per 1,000 gallons, an increase sure to be passed along to its 2-million customers. The price is likely to increase from $1.48 to $1.74 and would go higher if the utility had not overcharged its customers a few years ago and set the extra money aside to keep rates from jumping too high too fast, utility officials said.
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