Sinkhole Pumping Plan Raises Concerns

The City of Temple Terrace is in the process of drafting a letter to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection after learning more about a .

The Southwest Florida Water Management District is preparing to take water from the Morris Bridge Sink in the Lower Hillsborough Wilderness Preserve to provide water to the Hillsborough River below the City of Tampa Dam at Rowlett Park. Water would be pumped from the sink and transferred by the Tampa Bypass Canal and the Hillsborough River Reservoir to the river below the dam.

Morris Bridge Sink is located east of the Hillsborough River. The section of the river that flows through Temple Terrace is considered the middle river.

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At a City Council meeting Tuesday evening, Sid Flannery, the district’s scientist in charge of the Lower Hillsborough River Recovery, explained that the district has established four water sources to provide a minimum flow of water to the lower Hillsborough River (in priority order): Sulphur Springs; Blue Sink; Morris Bridge Sink; and the Tampa Bypass Canal. The district expects to have all of these sources operational by 2017.

Any water that is released from the Hillsborough River Reservoir to the lower river to meet the minimum flow would be made up by water from Morris Bridge Sink or the Tampa Bypass Canal, Flannery said.

“I know there’s great concern in Temple Terrace because of the beauty of the river in this section of the city, but the establishment of minimum flows will have no net affect on water levels in the middle portion of the river in the City of Temple Terrace,” he said.

The district has simulated pulling water out of Morris Bridge Sink, and the groundwater drawdowns do not significantly reach the Hillsborough River, Flannery said. The district is in the process of analyzing the rate of pumping that is safe, and then it will apply for a water use permit from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

“The river is going to fluctuate under natural climatic conditions, and the simulations that we’re doing, we’re looking at: Is there a groundwater impact towards the river? And it’s very slight,” Flannery said. “The groundwater drawdowns tend to go more towards the southeast than to the northwest. …so, we’re doing very extensive modeling analysis to see: Will there be any affect on the river? And, at this point, it doesn’t appear to be the case.”

Six residents, including members of the city’s River Watch Task Force, urged city officials to consider what effect the plan could have on the middle river that perhaps the district isn’t considering.

Ron Smith, chairman of River Watch Task Force, said the district has performed studies on minimum water flows in the upper and lower rivers, yet it has not studied minimum water flows or levels in the middle river.

“I’m not a hydrologist… As a layperson here, I simply can’t believe (the plan) won’t have some effect on the river,” Smith said. “What ‘some’ is, I really couldn’t tell you.”

Mayor Joe Affronti asked Code Compliance Director Joe Gross what the city’s options are. Gross said the city could track the analysis that the district is performing, as well as the permit request the district will submit to the DEP.

“Working closely with the district right now is where we are,” Gross said. “We’ll see … the DEP permitting process. There may be opportunities at that point to weigh in as a city as to our concerns.”

Councilman Ron Govin suggested the city contact the DEP to define its concerns. Councilman David Pogorilich clarified that city officials are concerned about the minimum levels of the middle river as opposed to the minimum flow.

“That’s what their ‘do-no-harm’ is based on is minimum flows, so as long as the water’s flowing, they don’t care how high it is in our section of the river,” Pogorilich said.

City Manager Kim Leinbach will work with the River Watch Task Force to draft a letter the city can send to the DEP after final approval from the council, as well as look into the possibility of finding an independent hydrology expert who would review the district’s permit request to the DEP.

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