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Guest Column

Securing water supply needs work

By JIM ADKINS
Published January 18, 2007

Here we go again, heading down that same slippery slide that almost ruined our lake system a few years ago.

I don't claim to be an expert on water matters; however, one doesn't have to take a long look to see that things are not right. Sure, Mother Nature and our lack of rainfall have contributed much of the problem. But there are many questions that need to be answered and issues addressed that seem to linger in the shadows of our disappearing waters.

Has anyone heard of the Tampa and St. Petersburg areas having water problems lately? I have relatives who live in those areas and the word is that they have plenty of water (new sources?) and reservoirs, canals that are full. Whatever happened to the desalination plant that they were building?

When you look at the Southwest Florida Water Management District boards, the Hillsborough basin board plans and actions for new initiatives it becomes apparent that the desal plant has many unsolved problems and may never be on line as envisioned. Yet, in the new water source initiatives for the Withlacoochee River Basin Board, the lone new water source initiative listed is desalination.

Why and how did Tampa-St. Petersburg suddenly become water rich and Citrus water poor? Could it be that the Green Swamp area is somehow supplying more water to the Hillsborough area? The Green Swamp is composed of 870 square miles of forested, low lying swampy surface water that is fed by the Floridan Aquifer and rainfall that in turn feeds and serves as the headwaters of the Hillsborough, Withlacoochee, Ocklawaha, and Peace rivers. Heavy rainfall and surface water from the Green Swamp can take as long as two weeks to reach our lakes in Citrus. The water boards, Swiftmud, and the various state-county agencies cannot simply sit and wait for water to arrive, by way of rain or an outpouring of the Green Swamp.

The county once had an advisory board that met to plan, devise and recommend to the County Commission those actions that could be taken in order to best utilize our water or the lack thereof.

Our commissioners should be discussing alternative sources, and means of getting more water into the lake system. What about cleaning up the muck accumulation around the lake shores and canals? While we are in a low water period? Why not create more of the muck, debris islands as they did in the Hernando Lake? Are the sinkholes in Morrison Pond still sucking water down from the lakes? Any plans to fix? Can we recapture some of the freshwater that flows freely into the gulf by way of our many rivers? Pumps and pipes would be far less costly than the money that will be lost from real estate that will lose its value (taxes) if we go dry again.

The Cross Florida Barge Canal is a good example of a very bad idea. It was started in the Roosevelt days, stopped and then started again in the Johnson years. The cost has surpassed millions and now serves no purpose other than to help a few fishermen and boat owners. It also cut the Withlacoochee River off at the Lake Rousseau end. It needs to be restored by the federal government and the water allowed to take its natural path.

Who knows what damage the canal has done to our water system? If the canal would be blocked at both ends, imagine the freshwater that could be stored there. Reservoirs are being utilized in other areas of the state, why not here? As a recreation area and fishing-boating freshwater lake it could become invaluable to Citrus. Any surplus could be fed back into the river and lake system.

The grass roots organization TOO FAR led the fight to keep the Local Sources First legislation intact when the Florida Council of 100 attempted to change the law to allow other counties to bring pipelines into Citrus for feeding the counties north of us water from our springs and rivers. They led the fight to have the Wysong Dam replaced when it was illegally removed. Now it is the Coogler Dam (it should have been named the TOO FAR dam). These two concentrated efforts generated positive effects for the lake system and Citrus County. Although I am no longer an officer in TOO FAR , I still believe that they have the motivation and the people's respect, (although a little sleepy at times), to effectively lead the community in a positive direction. We should not let TOO FAR become just another social club.

Lake cleanup, muck removal, water retention, renewal of efforts to remove the berms that were built to drain land for cattle should be a priority. When we do get water back, it should be allowed to filter and clean itself while sheeting through the onetime pasture land, unhindered by man-made dikes. If we are letting water out of the lake system to prepare for a worst-case hurricane season, that practice should cease. If Swiftmud is not utilizing the Coogler Dam in the very best fashion, then they need to rethink the purpose of the dam in the first place. Assurance should be determined that the Orange State and the Heffner canals are in good shape to receive and move water.

The County Commission should give the citizens of Citrus a much needed helping hand by taking positive actions now to attempt doing what the basin boards are not doing. If desal is the only initiative the basin board can offer, then replace them with people who can bring fresh ideas to the table. We don't need another five-year plan or another Corps of Engineers study to tell us that our waters are drying up. We need answers to "why"? What is being done by the county? By our state legislators?

Answers are available; however, we are not seeing signs of actions being taken. Ask Hillsborough how they went from water poor to water rich.

Was it reservoirs? To take advantage of times of heavy rainfall, instead of watching it run into the gulf.

What about the bypass canal in that area? They seem to be flexing their muscle and getting things done, while we build more government buildings, raise gas taxes at the very worst time, add more county personnel, add extreme additional expenses to the cost of new construction (impact fees). While the county tax buckets are filling up, our water bucket has a huge hole in it.

I understand fully the frustration of the present boards, elected and appointed, and I have not offered up any gold ladders. I am only saying, do something positive, take some action that the taxpayers can look at and understand.

Let's attempt to stop the mud slide, or at least take advantage of the low water to use some of our tax money to clean the shorelines of the muck. State law allows us to clean down to the white sand bottom that once surrounded the lakes. Most of the canal system could be used today if the muck was removed. Why not follow Panasoffkee's lead?

Get a state and/or federal grant and bring in the dredges, pumps and pipes to take the mess out.

Without clean and navigable lakes and canals, the eastern half of Citrus County will become a vegetated mud swamp. Home prices will tumble, tax revenue will decrease along with property values, boat races, fishing tournaments, water recreation and its revenue will be lost.

Tourists looking for our once beautiful lakes will find brush-choked, mud-caked depressions of prairie weeds.

In the interim, unless someone calls for me to help, I will sit out on my dock and watch the Flying Eagle area dry up and the bottom keep getting closer to the top.

Jim Adkins is an Inverness resident and former officer of the TOO FAR citizens group. Guest columnists write their views on subjects of their own choosing, which do not necessarily reflect those of this newspaper.

[Last modified January 17, 2007, 21:22:16]