THE FUTURE OF WATER SUPPLY IN FLORIDA

The problem in Florida is not lack of water, it is rather where it is, how it is used, where it gets dumped when we are through with it, and how much it will cost by fifteen years time to satisfy farms, and 5 million new Floridians. Florida tapped 6.4 billion gallons of water per day three years ago. By 2035, Florida will need another 1.1 billion gallons a day, which is a 17% increase. A majority of water utilities in Florida have historically relied on groundwater for their drinking water supply. In 2010, Florida water utilities used 2.2 billion gallons per day (BGD) of freshwater for public water supply compared to a total of 6.3 BGD used. Groundwater represented 89% of the 2.2 BGD freshwater used for public water supply (USGS, 2013).

The state’s water management districts have identified enough water conservation opportunities and water supply projects to keep the water flowing in Florida through at least 2035. But, building everything the districts have in their plans will cost billions, and then there’s the ongoing spending on energy, operations and maintenance to run them. In the 2017-18 fiscal year, the water management districts spent nearly $350 million on water supply and water quality projects and another $300 million on flood protection and natural systems.

Water will become more expensive. Nearly 90% of the water for “public supply” comes from groundwater. But, the state says in a water and land use report, “Freshwater withdrawals have increased to the point where they are impacting water resources and related natural systems in some regions.” Other sources — reclaimed water or brackish groundwater — will have to be considered, but water from those sources is typically more expensive to treat and deliver compared to groundwater and surface water. Desalination? The most efficient desal plants, developed by an Israeli firm, cost about $500 million to build and aren’t cheap to operate.

In the next 20 years, Florida’s population is expected to grow from the current 20 million residents to more than 25 million, while the fresh water demand for all uses is expected to increase by over 20 percent to approximately 7.9 BGD. The state also welcomed more than 94 million visitors in 2013 – a number expected to top 150 million in 2022 Surface water has several important advantages over other AWS sources. First, Florida has sufficient annual rainfall to make surface water a sustainable and renewable source, particularly in combination with raw and/or finished water storage. Second, the infrastructure including the required treatment processes is relatively simple and the annual operating costs are lowest of the remaining AWS options. However, depending on the location of the surface water source in relation to the water demands, the costs of reservoirs, raw and finished water pumping and transmission can be significant. Although other AWS sources will continue to be investigated for certain uses and areas, this combination of renewable source and low operating costs can make surface water very attractive in some locations where the storage and transmission costs are not cost prohibitive.