COURTESY : OCALA STAR BANNER
BY CHRISTOPHER CURRY
Published October 2, 2003 

THE VILLAGES - The numbers are eye catching - more than 50,000 homes, 100,000 residents and thousands of acres of thirsty golf courses eventually occupying a development where more than 10 million gallons of water a day are already being pumped from a high recharge area of the aquifer.
 

With another 32,000 homes planned in The Villages of Sumter by 2014, agencies are asking the retirement community's developer to prepare a contingency plan for water shortage. Meanwhile, the Southwest Florida Water Management District, which includes Sumter County, is two years away from establishing benchmark water levels for a series of lakes that could potentially be impacted by The Villages draw on the aquifer. At the request of Sumter County, SFWMD is scheduled to set minimum flow levels for Lake Panasoffkee, Big Gant Lake, Lake Deaton, Lake Miona and Lake Okahumpka in 2005. Those flow levels will set a limit where future water withdrawals would cause harm to water resources or the environment. Terry Johnson, planning manager with

New golf courses, like this one under construction in May near CR 466 in Sumter County, are a powerful drain on the region's water supply. Agencies are asking the developer of The Villages to prepare a contingency plan for water shortage.

"The central and southern areas (of the district) where known impacts exist are taking precedent," Johnson said.

Currently, he said there is no timetable for establishing minimum flow levels for the underground aquifer in the district's northern region, which includes The Villages.

Although there are not yet minimum flows to use as a measuring stick, SFWMD and the St. Johns River Water Management District, which covers areas of The Villages in Marion and Lake counties, require the development to provide regular water quality and water level tests from a series of monitoring wells. Spokeswoman Patti Michel said the St. Johns River Water Management District also monitors for any potential affectsimpacts The Villages' draw on the aquifer could have on water levels in Lake Weir. The Southwest District issues permits for six years, not 15 or 20.

"There's a lot of controls in place as you go along," said Nicholas Andreyev, The Villages water use consultant. "It's not just open season on water."

And regional planning and local government officials say The Villages water conservation plan, which makes extensive use of reclaimed water and stormwater for irrigation, could serve as a model for future development in the state.

"They have done a great job of protecting water to this point," Sumter County Commissioner Jim Roberts said. "I don't compliment The Villages that often, but that is something they have done well. I would like to see their conservation plan used in more areas of the county."

Withlacoochee Regional Planning Council Executive Director Michael Moehlman said The Villages' 32,000 home expansion in Sumter will utilize "state of the art" conservation measures.

"They're really heavy into conservation, I know that from what they submitted to us," Moehlman said. "They're one of the better ones in the state to be honest with you."

A report prepared by The Villages' consultants said reclaimed water either from the developer's wastewater treatment plants or purchased from the city of Wildwood will irrigate 867 acres of new golf courses. Reclaimed water lines will also be run to all the new houses in the development and 75 percent of landscaped common areas will have native, drought tolerant plants.

"The whole thing is a water balancing act," Andreyev said of The Villages conservation plan. "You have to balance how much you draw with how much goes back in. The reason we don't have a problem yet, and won't have a problem, is because we are in an area that is a closed basin, which means we don't have any rivers or streams running out of the area. So all the stormwater here is captured and feeds into the aquifer."

But Michel said as The Villages, Central Florida and the state as a whole continue to develop, alternative drinking water sources need to be developed. She said the St. Johns district is studying the possible use of demineralization plants and the surface water of the St. Johns River.

"We can't roll up our sidewalks and tell people not to move here," Michel said. "We don't want to say the aquifer is going to run out of water. But what we're doing by teaching water conservation is buying time. Water conservation now will give us time to develop alternate water sources in the future."