St. Pete-Clearwater Sun

Southwest Florida is in the grip of its most severe water shortage in almost 10 years, and the effects are visible at one of the region’s most critical water facilities.

The Peace River Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority’s main reservoir, built to hold 6 billion gallons of water, is now half empty. The authority is the primary water supplier for Sarasota, Charlotte, and DeSoto counties.

Between the reservoir and its underground storage systems, the authority typically maintains a 12- to 13-month water supply. That has now dropped to about eight months’ worth.

The Southwest Florida Water Management District has implemented Phase 3 water restrictions for the first time since 2017. An emergency order issued in March also allows the authority to continue drawing a limited amount of water from the Peace River even though the river’s flow has fallen below the threshold normally required for pumping — a condition that has persisted since November.

In March, the authority pulled an average of 8.73 million gallons per day from the river but dispensed more than three times that amount daily to the communities it serves. The emergency order expires at the end of May, after which the authority will rely solely on its stored reserves until summer rains are expected to raise river levels in June or July.

Despite the strain, water supply officials say the situation is manageable. “That’s why it was built, to handle stuff like this,” said Richard Anderson, the authority’s executive director. Officials say the primary near-term consequence will be higher operating costs this summer as the facility works to refill, but those costs are not expected to be passed on to customers.

Environmental advocates are more cautious. Glenn Compton, chairman of the local environmental nonprofit ManaSota-88, said drawing even a small amount of water from an already depleted river could have lasting consequences for wildlife and native vegetation, and called for stronger year-round mandatory water restrictions.

The authority is also planning a major capacity expansion, with a 9-billion-gallon reservoir currently under construction and expected to be completed in about 3 years.

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