Using surface water for drinking
District studies withdrawing and treating surface water
as a way to expand Florida’s drinking water supplies
Introduction
FAST FACTS
Most drinking
water comes from
two sources —
surface water
and groundwater.
Approximately 98
percent of all the
St. Johns River
Water
Management
District’s public
water supply
comes from
groundwater.
Groundwater will
likely not be able
to meet all future
water demands
without causing
harm to the
natural systems,
so alternatives
must be found.
Supplying drinking water to a growing
population is not a challenge unique to
Florida. It is a worldwide concern.
Only 3 percent of the Earth’s water is freshwater,
and 77 percent of this freshwater is frozen in
ice caps, glaciers and inland seas. In spite of
the limited amount of available freshwater,
water use has soared — increasing at twice
the rate of population growth. According to
the World Resources Institute, by 2025, nearly
50 percent of the world’s population will
face water shortages.
The majority of the world’s population
uses water from rivers, lakes and
streams for drinking.
More than 60 percent of the
population of the United
States gets its drinking
water from surface water
bodies. Surface water is
used primarily in New
England, the Great Lakes
region, Kentucky, Nevada,
North Carolina, Ohio, Colorado
and Georgia.
Florida’s water use
In Florida, however, the trend is different.
About 90 percent of the public water supply
here comes from groundwater, ranking
Florida second in the United States in
percentage of groundwater use.
Fresh groundwater in Florida is limited. As
Florida’s population grows and demand for
water increases, groundwater will probably
not be able to meet the needs of the growing
population without causing harm to the
natural systems.
Florida’s water management districts and
cooperating utilities are looking for ways to
expand existing water supply sources and are
looking for ways to develop alternative water
sources. One of those alternatives is to use
more surface water for drinking.
Use of surface water
Using water from rivers, lakes and streams
is not new — even in Florida. Until the
mid-1950s, the greater Orlando area relied
on lakes for its water supply. Now, however,
all the public water supply there comes
from groundwater.
Today, the Hillsborough River supplies
water for the Tampa area, the Peace
River is a source of water supply
for the city of Port Charlotte,
and the Manatee River is one
water source for the city
of Bradenton.
In the St. Johns River Water
Management District,
surface water is used in
Brevard County, where the
city of Melbourne gets most of
its drinking water from Lake
Washington and a portion of the
city of Cocoa’s water supply comes from
the Taylor Creek reservoir.
To meet future water needs within the
District, the Ocklawaha and the St. Johns
rivers have been identified as potential
sources of water. The District is currently
involved in a three-year, $3 million project
— the St. Johns River Water Supply Project —
to determine how much water can safely be
used, whether it can be treated to the high
standards necessary for public use, where the
best locations are to develop treatment
facilities, and who will use the treated water.
Continued on back
St. Johns River Water Management District • P.O. Box 1429 • Palatka, FL 32178-1429
Phone: (386) 329-4500 (Palatka headquarters switchboard) • On the Internet: sjrwmd.com
8/29/01
Surface water public-supply withdrawal locations in Florida
St. Johns River Water Management District
South Florida Water Management District
Southwest Florida Water Management District
Suwannee River Water Management District
Northwest Florida Water Management District
0
Withdrawal locations
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
40
80
Approximate scale in miles
Major area served
County
Water source
Panama City Beach
Quincy
Clewiston
Fort Myers
Fort Myers
Okeechobee
South Bay
Belle Glade
Pahokee
West Palm Beach
Punta Gorda
Small residential area
Port Charlotte
Small residential area
Small residential area
Tampa
Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay
Small residential area
Bradenton
Small residential area
Four Lakes Golf Club
Winter Haven
Cypress Lakes Venture
Sweetwater
North Port
Melbourne area beaches
Cocoa
Bay
Gadsden
Hendry
Lee
Lee
Okeechobee
Palm Beach
Palm Beach
Palm Beach
Palm Beach
Charlotte
Citrus
Desoto
Hernando
Highlands
Hillsborough
Hillsborough
Hillsborough
Hillsborough
Manatee
Manatee
Pasco
Polk
Polk
Polk
Polk
Sarasota
Brevard
Orange
Deer Point Lake
Quincy Creek
Lake Okeechobee
Caloosahatchee River
Caloosahatchee River
Lake Okeechobee
Lake Okeechobee
Lake Okeechobee
Lake Okeechobee
Clear Lake
Shell Creek
Unnamed lake
Peace River
Unknown
Bonnet Lake Canal
Hillsborough River
Hillsborough River
Alafia River
Tampa Bypass Canal
Lake Manatee
Ward Lake
Unnamed lake
Retention pond
Lake Lulu
Unknown
Retention pond
Big Slough
Lake Washington
Taylor Creek
N
St. Johns River Water Management District
P.O. Box 1429 • Palatka, FL 32178-1429
Phone: (386) 329-4500 (Palatka headquarters switchboard)
On the Internet: sjrwmd.com
8/29/01