Tampa Bay Water Blog

If you’ve got a great idea to conserve and protect our water, we’ve got a grant for that! We’re looking for organizations that share our environmental stewardship goals and are ready and willing to do great things for our community but just need funding.  Tampa Bay Water is offering $50,000 in grant funding for local projects that make a splash in water conservation and protection. Whether you’re cleaning up a river, teaching kids about aquifers, or designing an outreach campaign, we want to hear from you.  Here’s what you need to know:  Applications are accepted now through November 14, 2025 ...

Tampa Bay Water’s board approved a two-year funding agreement to continue supporting the Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ (FFL) programs in Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties. This long-standing partnership, which began in 1995, educates residents, businesses and homeowner associations on adopting sustainable landscaping practices that conserve water and protect the environment.  In 2024 alone, the tri-county programs achieved impressive results:  More than 55 million gallons of water saved—equivalent to approximately 152,000 gallons per day.  101 presentations and workshops reached more than 4,500 citizens.  337 landscape and irrigation evaluations conducted with homeowners and homeowner associations.  The FFL programs offer hands-on assistance and educational outreach to help...

When a hurricane is in the forecast, most people rush to stock up on batteries, toilet paper and flashlights. But one of the most important things on your list is to prepare your water supply.  Clean, safe water is essential before, during and after a storm. Here’s how you can stay ahead:  Before the Storm: Prep Early and Store Smart  Take care of essentials early: Take showers and do laundry and dishes before the storm hits to reduce water use when systems may be strained.  Plan your supply: Aim for at least one gallon of water per person per day...

The South Hillsborough Pipeline construction is set to begin this fall and Tampa Bay Water continues to keep the community updated and informed. In July, three in-person public meetings were held along the pipeline route. These meetings gave residents a chance to speak one-on-one with the construction team, engineers and Tampa Bay Water staff about road closures that will last more than 30 days and the associated detours. In August, the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners approved the road closures that will last more than 30 days. Work is also ongoing to secure the necessary property and permits, along...

Nearly every Friday morning for the last 30 years, Warren Hogg traded in his cowboy boots for flippers to volunteer at the Florida Aquarium. He can be found in the big tank, waving hello to the aquarium’s first visitors of the day as sharks and schools of fish float by. “This is so peaceful. To get in and work and interact with the animals,” Hogg said. “It’s a great way to start the day.” Water has been the focal point of Warren’s career at Tampa Bay Water for the last 37 years. And this year—he’s celebrating 30 years of volunteer...

The Tampa Bay region is well into the rainy season—and that is good news for our water savings account. As of August 1, the C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir is storing more than 8.5 billion gallons of water, more than half its 15.5-billion-gallon capacity. Last fall, the reservoir was full and ready for the dry season. Daily withdrawals began in March and continued into July, using more than 7 billion gallons during the driest months of the year. That’s enough water to fill 11,000 Olympic-size swimming pools. Thanks to recent rainfall, Tampa Bay Water was able to begin filling the...

As demand for water increases in southern Hillsborough County, Tampa Bay Water has implemented a multi-pronged approach to meet demand. Later this year, Tampa Bay Water staff plan to request board approval to move forward with the South Hillsborough Wellfield. This is a new water supply project that was shortlisted in the 2018 and 2023 Long-term Master Water Plan updates and has already been deemed feasible through studies that included two aquifer performance tests. The wellfield would be located in the Balm area and could provide 6-12 mgd of new water to the region using acquired water permits that are...

Tampa Bay Water submitted a permit application to the Southwest Florida Water Management District to increase the Alafia River withdrawal to 19% of available flow when the adopted Minimum Flow in the river is met, capped at 75 million gallons of water per day (mgd). The existing permit allows withdrawals of 10% of available flow when the Minimum Flow is met, capped at 60 mgd. If approved, this increased amount could help the agency fill the regional reservoir quicker ahead of the 2026 dry season and in future years. The requested permit modification is consistent with the Minimum Flow established...

At the April meeting, Tampa Bay Water’s board of directors approved spending $129.2 million to cover 17 tunneling locations, known as trenchless construction, along the South Hillsborough Pipeline’s 26-mile route. Trenchless crossings are areas where the pipeline will be installed by tunneling under roads and waterways to minimize traffic and environmental impacts. Tunnelling operations will begin as early as October 2025 and take place under Falkenburg Road, State Road 60, Alafia River, Boyette Road, Balm Boyette Road and other locations, shown on the map. Open cut construction, which involves digging a trench into which the pipe is installed, is scheduled...