POLK COUNTY, Fla. — Polk County leaders are one step closer in providing sustainable alternative water supplies for the region.
As the county’s water becomes increasingly scarce, the focus is on ensuring a sustainable alternative water supply for the future.
“We are not expected to have the current water supply pass 2026. So, it’s imperative that we get this facility online as quickly as possible,” said Michelle Williamson, Chair of Southwest Florida Water Management District.
The Upper Floridan Aquifer, the traditional source of water, has reached its limit.
“The Upper Floridan Aquifer is very connected to our lakes, our wetlands and our surface water like the Peace River. Additional pumping from that aquifer system is going to cause drawdown in those systems. We'll lose our lakes, we’ll lose our wetlands,” said Eric DeHaven, Polk Regional Water Cooperative executive director.
The Southeast Wellfield and Water Production Facility in Lake Wales will soon supply alternative water to 11 different Polk County municipalities.
Wells will pump water from 8,000 feet below the ground into the Lower Floridan Aquifer. It will be treated using reverse osmosis, to deliver up to 12.5 million gallons of drinking water per day.
“Processed and treated to become a pure, safe, fantastic tasting drinking water,” Williamson said.
Julie Johnson sells a variety of exotic plants at her Lakeland shop, The Green House, and she teaches people how to care for them. She would love to see more yards that have plants that require less water.
“We can find plants that are drought tolerant and don't need as much water or as much care. They would survive very well in the Florida landscape,” Johnson said.
Johnson is aware that the population boom in Polk County has left the county’s water supplies strained.
“Between here and Orlando, it feels like there is a new housing development going in every week and I do worry about how that impacts the rest of us,” Johnson said.
The water treatment facility is expected to open in 2028, ensuring a sustainable water supply through 2045.
Over the last two months, the ABC Action News I-Team has sent the names and information of nearly 300 people who were stuck in an "adjudication hold" to the Florida Department of Commerce. But now, some people have followed up to let the I-Team know after sharing their stories, they are finally getting the relief they desperately need.
