Looks like our water officials still have not flushed the idea of dumping shit in the aquifer. Tampa Bay Water told the BOCC last week it was still on the table (they called it aquifer recharge) I call it dumping shit in the aquifer. Swiftmud is studying this idea at a cost of $500,000. I would have told them for free it was a bad idea. They did say that their staff did not support the concept of downstream augmentation which is taking good water and replacing it with shitty treated waste water. So maybe there is hope for our aquifer yet.

They also gave updates on the cracked reservoir NEWSFLASH: It is still cracked. Gerald Seeber, manager of TBW, assured the board that it was still safe and that they would be looking into the cracks and should have some answers by next spring. NEXT SPRING? They have been looking into this for over a year as it is now. Next Spring puts us at 2 years of investigation and repairs. Um, according to the article I found it only took 3 years to build the damn thing in the first place!

They also updated the board on expected water needs and bragged on the DESAL plant and it's average daily production of 20.8 million gallons. Sounds like a lot until you compare it with the 6 million gallons of fresh water that Mosaic legally pirates out of the Alafia daily for their own use. Speaking of the Alafia it is evidently barely a trickle.

Building a second reservoir (cuz they did such a good job with the first one) is still on the table as well but since it is costly it sounded like it wasn't at the top of the list (I feel sure dumping shit in the aquifer is much more cost effective because the aquifer probably doesn't have any cracks in in). Come to think of it, neither does my toilet so leave the shit where it belongs!

So far the costs associated with the cracks have exceeded $700,000 and they have set aside another $500,000 but this could be just beginning of this water reservoir/money pit. Who is the most vocal elected official so far standing up for taxpayers and publicly exposing the goings on at TBW? State Senator Ronda Storms. She brought this all to light and was the first to report they might have to actually drain the reservoir. TBW denied this in the paper and then just 4 days later admitted this indeed might be the case. So (and this ain't easy so say it with me) Thank You Ronda. Commissioner Higginbotham, who is on the board of TBW, praised Mr. Seeber for the agency's transparency during the presentation to the BOCC Wed afternoon. I don't think giving out the details only after Ms. Storms has publicly outed you is truly transparent but that is just me.

Do you want to weigh in on the area's water concerns? Do you have a better suggestion than dumping shit in the aquifer to meet the future needs of the thirsty residents that the developers keep telling us are certain to move here (most in South County strangely enough) in the very near future? You can contact Swiftmud here. Here is just one Nimby's idea - How about we give the shitty reclaimed water to Mosaic because does anyone really care if there is shit in phosphate? Then we keep the clean water from the Alafia to drink? Just a thought.

Want to tell our local officials on the BOCC to think twice the next time a phosphate company asks for expansion or their developer bedfellows ask for more sprawl approvals adding rooftops without a thought about our dwindling water supply? You can contact them here.

UPDATE: TBW met this morning and voted unanimously to sue the three companies responsible for building the reservoir.