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| Community Budget Issue Requests - Tracking Id #479 |
| Lake Region Water Treatment Plant |
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| Requester: |
Henry Dean |
Organization: |
South Florida Water Management District |
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| Project Title: |
Lake Region Water Treatment Plant |
Date Submitted |
1/9/2004 3:42:00 PM |
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| Sponsors: |
Aronberg, Atwater, Bullard, Dawson, Klein |
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| Statewide Interest: |
| This project is regional in scope, is intended to meet a documented need of statewide interest, is intended to produce a measurable result and has tangible community support |
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| Recipient: |
South Florida Water Management District |
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Contact: |
Frank Bernardino |
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3301 Gun Club Road |
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Contact Phone: |
(561) 718-2345 |
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West Palm Beach 33416 |
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Contact email: |
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| Counties: |
Palm Beach |
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| Gov't Entity: |
Yes |
Private Organization (Profit/Not for Profit): |
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| Project Description: |
| The South Florida Water Management District is requesting 17.5 million as partial funding for a new Lake Region Water Treatment Plant to serve the existing and future needs of Belle Glade, Pahokee, and South Bay. The latter three cities have been designated as Rural Areas of Critical Economic Concern under Executive Order 01-26. The new Lake Region Water Treatment Plant will produce a high quality treated water from deep groundwater and will eliminate the drinking water quality problems, particularly trihalomethanes, associated with using surface water from Lake Okeechobee as a source water. The use of groundwater will also eliminate any conflicts between the use of Lake Okeechobee as a source water and the needs of Everglades restoration along with operation of the Lake for use a stormwater storage reservoir. The use of groundwater will also eliminate the threat of running out of water to Belle Glade, Pahokee, and South Bay that occurred during the 2001 drought. The Lake Plant will take water from the Florida Aquifer, a deep groundwater source, treat it using reverse osmosis, in order to produce a potable water that will remove color and meet existing and future water quality standards. |
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| Is this a water project as described in Chapter 2002-291, Laws of Florida? |
Yes |
| Has the project been submitted to the Department of Environmental Protection? |
Yes |
| DEP Identfying Number: |
OT20022147 |
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| Measurable Outcome Anticipated: |
| Public health concerns are a major reason for proceeding with the Lake Region Water Treatment Plant. Belle Glade, Pahokee, and South Bay all use Lake Okeechobee as a source of raw water for drinking water. Lake Okeechobee receives stormwater inflows from major agricultural areas including dairy farms, livestock pastures, sugar cane fields, small vegtable farms, and sod farms and is heavily nutrient enriched as well as highly colored. Organic material in the water gives rise to trihalomethanes in the water upon treatment with chlorine; THM are cancer-causing chemicals according to the U.S. EPA. Pahokee and South Bay have not yet reached current standards for THM. Belle Glade's treatment plant is aging and may not be able to achieve future water quality standards that will become more stringent. This project will provide safe and abundant water supply to these three communities.
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| Amount requested from the State for this project this year: |
$2,500,000 |
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| Total cost of the project: |
$34,400,000 |
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| Request has been made to fund: |
Construction |
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| What type of match exists for this project? |
Local, Federal |
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Cash Amount |
$20,300,000 |
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| Was this project previously funded by the state? |
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No |
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| Is future-year funding likely to be requested? |
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Yes |
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Amount: |
$2,500 |
To Fund: |
Construction |
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| Was this project included in an Agency's Budget Request? |
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No |
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| Was this project included in the Governor's Recommended Budget? |
No |
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| Is there a documented need for this project? |
Yes |
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Documentation: |
Lake Region Water Treatment Plant - Conceptual Analysis Report |
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| Was this project request heard before a publicly noticed meeting of a body of elected officials (municipal, county, or state)? |
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Yes |
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Hearing Body: |
Palm Beach County Legislative Delegation |
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Hearing Meeting Date: |
12/18/2003 |
