history

“History teaches everything, including the future.”
                        - Alphonse Lamartine

The governments that formed Tampa Bay Water have worked regionally and cooperatively to solve the region’s water supply problems.  In the past decade, Tampa Bay Water designed, permitted and constructed a billion dollar water system that is diverse, environmentally sound and one of the most complex systems in the country.

Today, the region is served by a combination of groundwater, river water and desalinated seawater.  That wasn’t always the case.  The first regional alternative water supply began serving Tampa Bay Water’s members in 2002.  Prior to that, the cities and counties served by Tampa Bay Water and its predecessor agency, the West Coast Regional Water Supply Authority, relied solely on groundwater to meet their drinking water needs.