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Draining the Floridan Aquifer
Some areas of Florida are growing so fast, communities do not
sufficiently plan ahead, as the case with Sunrise, Florida where
developers overrun the community in cohorts with city officials who
generate massive funds through taxing citizens. Although drinking water is
critically necessary for a community, the actual community is not
realized until years later once the sales are completed and the
developers are well off and unconcerned about the facts of over
developmental problems that haunt the owners of the community for life.
It seems everyone just assumes that water will be alternatively found
and it won't cost more than oil at some point in time. The problems have
more to do with the way water is used and disposed of that will continue
to feed the monsters who sell us the earth in bit and pieces in their
unsustainable plans.
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Strict water limits could slow feverish pace of growth in Sunrise
30 September 2007 - By Jennifer Gollan - sun-sentinel.com
Blessed with some of Broward's last shreds of open land,
Sunrise has blossomed into Fort Lauderdale's western bookend, with a
growing skyline abutting the Everglades.
But strict water limits in South Florida threaten to halt feverish
growth in large cities like Sunrise unless officials spend tens of
millions of dollars for alternative sources
of drinking water.
"It is the 500-pound gorilla in the room," said Deputy Mayor Roger
Wishner. "We are running out of water. This could affect the quality
of life for all residents."
If Sunrise, which already withdraws more than
its water permit allows, fails to find a new supply, it may
have to ration water for the 215,000 residents it serves within its
own limits, along with Weston, Southwest Ranches, western Davie and
some parts of unincorporated Broward, Wishner said.
The city could also lose millions in tax revenue
tied to new development.
During the next 20 years, Sunrise intends to build a slew of
alternative water projects, costing up to $175 million, to keep pace
with population growth.
Precisely what type of new water plants Sunrise should build will be
laid out by a consultant in a $1.4
million yearlong study beginning this month. The cost of tapping new
water sources will be shouldered in part by residents in the form of
higher utility bills, many officials say.
Sunrise's quandary is symptomatic of a growing push to find
alternative water supplies in Broward County. Last February, the South
Florida Water Management District, which covers Palm Beach and Broward
counties and all or part of 14 others, capped
water consumption from the Biscayne aquifer, an underground
reservoir that provides most of South Florida's drinking water.
"South Florida residents should expect their utility bills to climb
30 to 50 percent in the next five years as more cities look for
ways to build alternative water supplies," said Phillip Gildan, an
attorney who represents various utilities, including Sunrise.
District water officials this summer told developers of The Commons in
Davie and Harrison Park in Sunrise that no building permits would be
issued until the city agrees to build at least two
alternative water supply plants.
Sunrise does not have a sufficient uncommitted potable water supply to
serve additional development, James Golden, lead planner at the water
district, wrote in a June 29 e-mail to Leigh Kerr, a land planner
handling the mixed-use development of Harrison Park.
In response, Sunrise intends to build two alternative water plants
that tap the Floridan aquifer. Costing up
to $16 million, the two plants will produce drinking water from the
aquifer, a brackish body of water 500 to 1,500 feet underground that
extends to the Georgia border.
Water district officials said they expect to approve the city's plans
in two to three months, which would allow developments like Harrison
Park to progress.
Other regional water providers, such as Broward County and Fort
Lauderdale, are working on similar plans involving the Floridan.
Broward County officials told the water district this month they hope
to build two Floridan aquifer plants, one west of Deerfield, the other
west of Fort Lauderdale, said John Crouse, director of the Broward
County Water Management Division. Broward intends to raise utility
rates to generate $92 million for two new Floridan aquifer plants,
Crouse said. Construction on the plants will begin in 2011 and finish
a year later.
Fort Lauderdale's Floridan plant will be part of the Peele Dixie Water
Plant in Fort Lauderdale, said Maurice Tobon, environmental services
manager at the Fort Lauderdale Public Works Department. Construction
on Fort Lauderdale's $26 million Floridan plant began early this year
and will be finished around 2012.
Sunrise began work in early September on its first Floridan plant,
estimated to cost $4 million which was generated by
developer fees. The plant will take 18 to
24 months to complete.
Floridan aquifer plants filter water through membranes using reverse
osmosis to eliminate salt, bacteria and other impurities. The water is
then disinfected with chlorine to produce
drinking water. Filtering water from the Floridan is often
cheaper than desalinating seawater
because it contains less salt. And compared with recycling wastewater,
Floridan water is also cheaper and easier to treat for it to meet
strict local water-quality standards.
Yet, some water managers are concerned that growing demand will
affect the quality and supply of the Floridan.
"Utilities are concerned about the long-term
effects of using the Floridan aquifer because of the unknowns
of how that will affect the water quality," Tobon said. "Right now the
[water] district is saying the Floridan aquifer is limitless, but 20
years ago, that's what they said about the Biscayne."
Copyright © 2007, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
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The
The
Labors in the Spirits of
Science
Living on the Lost Planet 
