Frantic growth drives water-supply crisis - Population boom comes amidst dry wells and dropping water tables

By Wendy Fullerton & Pamela Smith Hayford, The News-Press - March 27, 2005

Liquid gold.

Everyone wants it. Everyone needs it.

The question is, do we have enough water to sustain the explosive growth and development occurring in Southwest Florida?

Last year alone, 71 people moved here every day. And there's no end in sight. Southwest Florida — which includes Lee, Collier and Charlotte counties — is expected to nearly double its population to about 1.6 million in the next two decades.

Sure, it rains more here than in nearly any other state. And yes, we're surrounded by water on three sides.

Still, wells are running dry. Water tables are dropping. Quality is suffering.

A South Florida Water Management District hydrologist sounded the alarm 20 years ago that supplies would be so bad this year that Lee would be forced to rely on the Gulf of Mexico alone for drinking water.

People said it would never happen.

We're almost there.

Residents already are saddled with year-round watering restrictions, while government allows new homes and offices to be constructed throughout the area.

Demand for water — once considered an inexhaustible and cheap resource — is rising faster than scientists predicted five years ago and water managers are scrambling as they draft a 2005 water-supply plan.

Utilities are eyeing expensive new water sources such as desalted seawater or treated river water.

And taxpayers will be forced to absorb those costs. Nationwide, the cost of water is rising, between 100 and 400 percent in the past 10 years.

Cape Coral residents found out about rising costs with a water rate increase that took effect this month to cover $493 million worth of utility system improvements. It was the first increase in more than a decade. Even that wasn't enough, so they cut the number of lawn-watering days from three to two per week.

But water managers still fear an estimated 4,000 more wells will go dry next month in Cape Coral and warn Lehigh Acres is not far behind.

State leaders promise the building boom won't be stifled by a water shortage. They are searching for solutions, too. There is even talk of a tax on bottled water.

"All we need is a hero,'' said Wayne Daltry, Lee County's Smart Growth director. "What we lose by not doing (anything) is greater than we gain clearly.''

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