Water conservation called inadequate at CFWI stakeholder meeting

By Tom Palmer

DAVENPORT – Conservation leaders from the region pressed water managers Monday to do more to implement water conservation measures before they set off to build multimillion-dollar water supply projects.

The forum at Champions Gate Golf Club was the latest in a series of meetings to get feedback on the implementation phase of the Central Florida Water Initiative, a long-term water supply plan for Polk, Osceola, Orange, Seminole and part of Lake counties.

The effort is an outgrowth of the realization that the region was reaching a point where tapping the aquifer for future water supplies cannot occur without causing environmental problems. The study and its implementation, which it was clear Monday is still short on specifics, is intended to confront that problem.

Monday's meeting is one of three stakeholder meetings that will precede a June 1 public meeting in Winter Haven and formal action this fall by the Southwest Florida, South Florida and St. Johns River water management district boards. The other meetings involve farmers and local utility officials.