Analysis of Florida's Water Resources shows freshwater supply may not meet future needs

PRLog (Press Release) - Jan 06, 2010 -
This study was undertaken to analyze Florida’s water supply versus its demand.  Tampa Bay comprised of one of the study regions, including Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco counties.  The Southeast region of the state was also analyzed, which for the purposes of this analysis, comprised of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. State and federal legislation; water supply and demand for the Miami and Tampa Bay areas; water resource issues; fresh water use by county; surface and ground water supply and demand; fresh water use by type; reclaimed and saline water use and issues; supply and demand projections through 2030; as well as conclusions and recommendations on what needs to be done to meet future water needs.  This independent study took several months to complete and used a variety of primary and secondary research methods.

According to GMC, overall, data trends show that the Tampa Bay and Miami areas are using more freshwater than the projected rainfall levels can replenish, especially in times of drought.  Due to increased variation in precipitation coupled with global climate change, future supply problems are likely, as fresh surface and ground water depend solely on rainfall for replenishment.  

On a millions of gallons per day (MGD) basis, the fresh water demand for the Tampa Bay area, grew at an annual rate of 1.8 percent from 1970 to 2005, but is expected to continue slowing to a projected growth rate of only 0.36 percent a year until 2030. The Miami-Palm Beach regional annual water demand grew at a rate of 2.2 percent from 1970 to 2005; however, the demand is projected to grow at a significantly lower annual rate of 0.44 percent through 2030.  

GMC found that the per capita water usage for both, Tampa Bay and the Miami areas has trended lower, a trajectory that is expected to continue.  From 1980 to 2005, Tampa’s annual per capita demand for water decreased -0.4 percent while its overall demand increased 1.3 percent over the same time period.  Similar to the divergent usage pattern, Miami-Palm Beach region’s, per capita demand decreased 0.2 percent annually while it’s overall annual demands increased 1.8 percent from 1980 to 2005.

GMC believes that Florida’s depleting water supply can be attributed primarily to its rapid population growth since the 1950s and variances in rainfall-freshwater supplies.   Some freshwater supply relief has been realized by the use of reclaimed and reverse osmosis (RO) treated water sources.

In the study, GMC gives detailed recommendations to help reach community water management goals which include the development of innovative conservation methods to better ensure a safe water supply for future generations.