Bay Area drought: Steady rain fails to erase 14-inch water deficit
Impact of recent rain on drought
There has been a lot of rain over the past week, but how did that impact water conservation efforts? FOX 13’s Mariah Harrison reports.
TAMPA, Fla. - Recent rain across the Bay Area is helping refill local reservoirs, but water officials warn the region remains in a severe rainfall deficit after months of drought.
Bay Area regional drought
What we know:
Tampa Bay Water supplies drinking water to Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties, along with the cities of Tampa and St. Petersburg. The utility relies on groundwater from well fields, a desalination plant, and surface water from the Hillsborough and Alafia river systems.
The region is currently about 14 inches below normal annual rainfall, a major shift from a 10-inch surplus at the same time last year. When drought conditions caused river levels to fall, the river system could no longer contribute water, forcing groundwater to make up the difference.
Over the last five days, recent rain has allowed workers to begin putting water back into the regional reservoir. The reservoir currently holds just over 2 billion gallons, with a goal of reaching approximately 15 billion gallons by October.
Local water recovery
What we don't know:
Officials have not stated exactly how long it will take for river levels and groundwater sources to fully recover from the extended drought.
It remains unclear whether upcoming weather patterns will provide the sustained, monthly rainfall needed to fill the reservoir to its 15-billion-gallon target by fall.
Regional water supply
What they're saying:
"So what happened to us is starting last year, one of those players was taken out," Tampa Bay Water General Manager Chuck Carden said. "The rivers dried up. We were having no water going into the reservoir."
"We need to make sure that we can get the river water back in the game and give the groundwater a break because it's been working doing its part and also the part of the river system," Carden added. "Over the last five days, we have been putting in some water for the first time in a long while. That's the happy story here is we're starting to put water in the savings account."
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from Tampa Bay Water, who detailed regional rainfall metrics and reservoir levels, as well as General Manager Chuck Carden.