growing demand '72-'92
The West Coast Regional Water Supply Authority existed from 1974 to 1998. Its members included Hillsborough County, Pasco County, Pinellas County, St. Petersburg and Tampa. New Port Richey was a non-voting member.
Some member governments owned their own water supply facilities and contracted with the Authority for a share of water from a specific facility. Others owned none or few facilities, contracting with the Authority for shares of water from several facilities. Some were precluded from developing their own supplies.
In the 1990s, 11 regional groundwater facilities served nearly 90 percent of the members’ demand for groundwater. In 1998, the face value of the permits for these facilities totaled 192 million gallons per day.
But due to on-going drought, development, pumping and alterations to the natural drainage systems, the environment suffered.