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River Study Sought

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By JOYCE McKENZIE

jmckenzie@tampatrib.com

Published: January 14, 2009

TEMPLE TERRACE - Since its inception in March 2007, the Temple Terrace River Watch Task Force has been on a mission to improve the water quantity and quality of an eight-mile stretch of the Hillsborough River that meanders through the city.

The group has held monthly meetings, strategizing about how to have its voice heard in preserving what for decades they say has been seen as Temple Terrace's greatest natural asset. Some of its gatherings have included David Moore, executive director of the Southwest Florida Water Management District, as well as other agency officials.

From the onset, the task force's primary focus has been to have Swiftmud agree to do a study of the middle river, the portion within city boundaries that, to the group's chagrin, the water district refers to as a reservoir.
Task force members say the extraordinary low water levels and substandard water quality are a detriment to the area's wildlife and overall ecosystem.

One positive result of the group's persistence came in the spring of last year when the water district reactivated a gage near the Fowler Avenue bridge adjacent to Rotary Park. It measures the water's level, its temperature and oxygen levels.

The group, however, has been looking for a more comprehensive study, similar to what they argue has been conducted for the upper and lower portions of the river. It includes examining the possibility of increasing the water supply from the Tampa Bypass Canal to the middle river.

That quest was alluded to in an Oct. 21, 2008, letter to Moore by Frank Chillura, the task force chairman at the time.

"We started to elevate our tune at that point," Chillura said.

In Moore's Nov. 18 response letter, he stressed that much of the middle river is a reservoir in which water is stored and used as the primary source of Tampa's drinking water.

"As an impoundment, this section of the river behaves more like a lake than a river," Moore wrote. "As a water supply, it is expected that water levels will decline as a result of withdrawals."

The reservoir, Moore added, is augmented by water from the Tampa Bypass Canal when its level drops below the top of the city of Tampa dam.

"We were displeased with that letter by the fact there was no mention of a study," said Chillura.

He also wishes Swiftmud would not refer to the river as a reservoir and that the agency would "push" the city of Tampa into using more reclaimed water .

As a result, task force member David Pogorilich, on behalf of the board, went before the Temple Terrace City Council on Dec. 16 seeking and receiving approval to have City Manager Kim Leinbach write a letter to Moore stating the city's dissatisfaction with his response to its request for a study of the middle river and with Swiftmud's defining it as a reservoir.

Leinbach's letter, copied to the Hillsborough County Legislative Delegation, was mailed Dec. 23.

The next day Swiftmud governing board member Hugh Grambling faxed a response to Chillura, copying it to fellow board members; Moore; Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio; Tampa Bay Water General Manager Gerald Seeber; and Ralph Lair, former Swiftmud legislative affairs coordinator.

Grambling included a statement that came as a complete surprise to the task force members.

"I have personally followed staff's diligent efforts to complete a nearly $100,000 out-of-cycle study of the Hillsborough River from the city of Tampa's dam to Fletcher Avenue, which was started in May 2008," Grambling wrote.

He also mentioned there would be discussion on the issues during Swiftmud's governing board's Feb. 24 meeting and he encouraged members of the task force board to attend.

"We've been in the dark based on the information we have," Chillura said. "They've talked about the gage, but the gage doesn't do a whole lot."

In a special task force meeting on Jan. 7 to address the issue, newly appointed chairman Ron Smith presented a letter he drafted in response to Grambling's remarks. With minor changes, the board approved it.

"Your news of the major study along with spearheading interest by the governing board in reconsidering minimum levels at your February meeting is precisely what our group has been advocating," Smith wrote. "Although the full scope of the project is not fully known, most reassuring is your belief that the 'results of the study will provide you with the data and analyses you've requested.'"

Chillura requested and was assured by the board's staff liaison, Joe Gross, that the same people copied on Grambling's letter be copied on Smith's letter.

In an effort to inquire further about the study, Mayor Joe Affronti scheduled a closed meeting with Swiftmud officials on Jan. 8. Details of the session, also attended by Chillura, were unavailable before press time.

The River Watch Task Force will meet again at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday at Temple Terrace City Hall, 11250 N. 56th St., in the first-floor council workroom. The meeting is open to the public.

Reporter Joyce McKenzie can be reached at (813) 865-4849.

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