Is water from the St. Johns River or the Ocklawaha River going to be piped to south Florida or other distant locations?
No. There are no proposals to transport water from the St. Johns River or Ocklawaha River to south Florida or any other distant location. The District has identified a number of alternative source project options from these rivers for those areas in the immediate region where existing groundwater sources will not be sufficient to meet all additional water demands in the future. Because the development of alternative water sources is expensive, utilities that need to develop new sources of water have begun discussions and investigations among themselves to determine if it would be cost-effective to build joint projects to meet their collective water demands. This would require them to interconnect their water systems and to share in the production of the new water supply. Ultimately, the utilities themselves will have to decide if those types of projects are cost-effective and will provide additional water needs in their areas, not the District.
