Tampa Bay runs out of surface water

Tampa Bay, home of the largest desalination plant in the US, has officially succumbed to drought conditions and shut off its surface water supply.

According to the Agency's Regional Water Supply and Drought Index this month, rainfall total across Florida's Tampa Bay area were 70 per cent below normal for the month of February.

"Surface water flow conditions are critically low," it added. "C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir water began flowing into the regional water supply distribution system about six months ahead of average condition needs and supplies are almost exhausted."

The drought conditions are part of a longer-term trend, according to the Agency, which says that long-term water level shortfalls continue to rise. It had been in a Phase III Extreme Water Shortage situation since last October, which escalated to a Phase IV critical water shortage situation in February. It had indicated on 9 March that it would have to shut down the surface water treatment plant due to a lack of surface water.

The regional reservoir held 160m gallons as of 9 March, and regional water demands totalled about 230m gallons a day in February.

Tampa Bay Water brought its desalination plant online in December 2007. The plant provides up to 25m gallons of fresh water per day to inhabitants.

The US Drought Impact Reporter revealed eight events said to stem from the drought conditions in the past month in the Hillsborough County area surrounding the Bay, including four water or energy-related events.

The news will be seized on by environmentalists as further evidence that southern states of the US are facing increased risk from droughts as a result of climate change.

Already this year businesses in Los Angeles have been warned to prepare for water rationing, while Las Vegas officials have similarly reported that falling water levels at Lake Mead could lead to serious shortages. A series of official government reports have also warned that many states in the south and south west of the country could face serious water shortages over the coming decades that could make several major cities unviable.