Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
over water to fi nding solutions and new supplies,” says Sims. “The
legal fi ght had raged on and on and on, and in the meantime, the
well fi elds kept pumping.”
Those new supplies Tampa Bay Water came up with include
a reservoir on the Alafi a River to divert surface water to stor-
age for dry periods, and a seawater desalination plant on eastern
Tampa Bay. However, it's far from back to water as usual for the
Tampa Bay Water area. As mentioned earlier, in March 2009, Tampa
Bay's 15 billion-gallon reservoir offi cially ran out of water: Its level
fell too low to pump and the Southwest Florida Water Management
District pronounced it “dry.”
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Cracks in the walls of the above-
ground reservoir added to the problem. The Tampa Bay utility
scrambled to use other sources to satisfy the area's water needs. The
reservoir has since been replenished and tight restrictions on water
use lifted, but will the lesson be learned? Time will tell.
WATERTIGHT LAND DEVELOPMENT
How many times have you driven by (or maneuvered through)
a stretch of road or parking lot fl ooded with standing water during
or after a rainstorm or snowmelt? It may not have been a very heavy
storm, but the water annoyingly pooled up anyway because it had
nowhere to go. Its escape route has been paved or cemented over.
The manner in which land traditionally has been developed
actually interferes with the natural replenishment of our water sup-
ply. Even in water-rich areas, no matter how much precipitation falls
from the sky, large expanses of paved parking lots, roads, walkways,
and impervious roofs keep the water out. Rather than soaking back
into the ground and replenishing aquifers, water pools and evapo-
rates away or runs off into the sewer systems and is carried away—
usually far away.
“When it comes to regional and urban design and site planning,
we've spent years disregarding the necessary connection between
urban patterns and their geo-hydrological relationship to our drink-
ing water,” says urban design sustainability expert Williams. “Instead
we have created millions of square miles of impervious surfaces and
untold lineal miles of drainage canals, and then look for additional
water once the swamp has been drained.”
