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River Task Force Seeks Support

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By JOYCE McKENZIE

jmckenzie@tampatrib.com

Published: January 28, 2009

TEMPLE TERRACE - The members of the Temple Terrace River Watch Task Force may soon have the support of an expert.

On Jan. 20, the city council approved their request to hire an environmental lawyer to guide them in their mission to safeguard the future of what they deem the city's greatest natural asset - the Hillsborough River. The fee for services shall not exceed $5,000.
Task force chairman Ron Smith said the issues they particularly need answers to include the likelihood of having the Southwest Florida Water Management District redefine the middle portion of the river that runs through Temple Terrace from a reservoir to a river. For months the group has been unwavering in its pursuit to have it labeled a river.

The committee is also on a quest to alter a Florida Administrative Code in order to set a standard level of minimum water flow in the middle river, an area plagued by the consequences of the area's moderate drought conditions. Current law prohibits guidance levels from being set in certain bodies of water, including the middle river.

Smith said another concern is why Swiftmud allows Tampa to dump 50 million gallons of waste water each day into Tampa Bay.

The group contends the Tampa Bay area would be better served if the water were treated and used as reclaimed water.

An additional bone of contention is Swiftmud wanting to pump about 3.8 million gallons of water a day for a month from a sinkhole near Morris Bridge Road in Tampa. The pumping, which is an effort to supplement the region's increasing low water supply, is expected to begin any day. Smith said the task force fears some nearby wells could dry up because of the pumping.

"I am very concerned about this Morris Bridge Sink withdrawal from the aquifer into the bypass canal," said associate task force member Terry Neal of Tampa, whose Temple Crest home is on a well near the pumping site.

"For five years I have asked for a map of the aquifer under this area of northeast Hillsborough County and no one ever offers one."

Task force members hope to have the expert on board before Swiftmud's annual governing board meeting Feb. 24 in Brooksville, where the board plans to address these matters.

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

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