EASTERN WATER NEWS

April 2006

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Orlando/Orange County’s Requests for New Permits Raise Widespread Concerns as Central Florida Groundwater Use Reaches Its Limit

Central Florida’s regional boom, led by the Orlando area, is driven primarily by tourism, a housing explosion fueled by in-migration, and a growing economy. That growth is now on the brink of potential limitation as there is no longer an assurance that new initiatives will be able to rely on the cheap, clean water that the Floridan aquifer has provided up until now. The demand for groundwater withdrawals in Central Florida is reaching the apocalyptic point where that demand exceeds supply. As Jake Varn, a veteran of the Tampa Bay regional “Water Wars” put it, “We all knew this day was coming. If you want to talk about bloody, divisive and all that, competing uses [among utilities] means tough, tough decisions.” (See, “Water Requests Exceed Limit,” Orlando Sentinel, March 6, 2006, A1 and A11.)