April is Water Conservation Month, a fitting time to discuss Polk County’s future water needs and the Polk Regional Water Cooperative’s (PRWC) role. Formed in 2016, the PRWC includes Polk County and 15 municipal governments. Its main task is to ensure a quality drinking water supply for the county’s future. The agency is now looking into alternative water sources to meet increasing demand.
Polk County is the U.S.’s fastest-growing county, with about 90 new residents daily. By 2045, the county may need an extra 32 million gallons of water per day from alternative sources. The Upper Florida Aquifer, the county’s main water source, is at risk of overuse. This could cause water shortages and harm lakes, wetlands, and natural systems.
The PRWC, a non-profit special district of Florida, is responsible for providing Polk County residents with clean, safe water. The PRWC recently told the Board of County Commissioners that two projects, the Southeast Wellfield and the West Polk Wellfield, are set to provide an extra 24 million gallons of water per day by 2045.
These two projects involve extracting water from the Lower Floridan Aquifer, which requires deeper drilling than usual. Drills at these sites can reach up to 2,000 feet, much deeper than the few hundred feet required by the Upper Floridan Aquifer.
These projects are expected to be completed by 2029 at a cost of around $650 million. Much of the funding will come from state and federal grants. However, drawing and treating water from the Lower Floridan Aquifer is a more complex process, so water from these wells will cost customers more.