St. Pete-Clearwater Sun

Polk County commissioners have approved a $1.8 million contract to drill a new water supply well in the northeastern part of the county, near Davenport, as officials work to keep pace with the region’s rapid population growth.

The new well will replace an existing one that county utilities director Tamara Richardson described as inadequate, and will be located about a mile from the current site. Richardson said the project is largely a maintenance upgrade rather than an entirely new water source, but it is also part of a broader effort to access deeper water reserves. The county has reached the pumping limit from the upper Floridan aquifer and must now draw from the lower Floridan aquifer to meet demand.

The northeast portion of Polk County is the fastest-growing area in the county, and the utilities department currently serves more than 40,000 residential and commercial customers there. “We need this lower Floridan to continue to serve additional growth and to provide more reliability for the northeast for our existing customers,” Richardson said.

A related project — the construction of an alternative water supply receiving facility on the same property as the new well — was set to go before the Board of Commissioners for approval on Tuesday.

To help fund the infrastructure expansion, customers can expect a 6% annual rate increase over the next 6 years, according to county officials.

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