| Increased
water usage and little rainfall have put the Gasparilla Island
Water Authority in the position of buying additional water and
putting watering restrictions into effect, said Bonnie Pringle,
GIWA director.
"The traditional dry months of April
through June are yet to come, but we are already below normal
levels for rainfall. In March we measured only .23 of rainfall on
the island, and our water consumption has dramatically increased
over last year primarily because of outside irrigation," said
Pringle |
in a press release.
GIWA’s water treatment facilities are
currently operating at capacity, and island storage levels are
very low. Charlotte County Utilities (CCU) declared water shortage
conditions on March 22, but on Tuesday they began selling GIWA as
much water as possible (about 200,000 gallons per day) without
causing problems in their water system, said Pringle. But as the
dry weather continues, their ability to help may end.
"With the supplemental water from |
CCU we are no longer losing ground in
our storage tanks, but the demand
has been too great to replenish those
levels," said Pringle.
For the first five days of April, water sales
averaged 1.447 million gallons
per day, but only .411 million
gallons were treated which means 82% or a little over a million
gallons per day is being used outside, primarily for irrigation of
landscapes.
Continued
On Page 4 |
