AWWA ACE60078

In February of 1997 an odyssey of near epic proportion began with Tampa Bay Water'sissuance of a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a developer of a private large-scaleseawater desalination plant to provide a "drought proof" water supply for its three countyservice area. The proposals were received in February 1999 and the reportedprice for delivered desalinated water of $1.71 per thousand gallons began an irrevocablechange to the American Water Industry. The arduous procurement process resulted in theselection in March 1999 of the top-ranked developer, Stone and Webster (S&W) Water, LLC.TheTampa Bay Water Board approved the Water Purchase Agreement (WPA) with S&WWater, LLC, on July 19, 1999 for the development of a 25 million gallon per dayseawater desalination facility.The background within which Tampa Bay Water sought the development of the seawaterdesalination project began with the West Coast Regional Water Authority's "Water Wars." The Water Warsinvolved the quest for groundwater in the coastal Tampa Bay area and the political andlegal battles between those that used and needed the water and those whose resourceswere being consumed and the environment impacted. The outcome of the Water Warswas the reorganization in June 1998 of the old West Coast Regional Water Authority intoTampa Bay Water. As part of the reorganization, Tampa Bay Water entered into the "Northern Tampa BayNew Water Supply and Groundwater Withdrawal Reduction Agreement" ("PartnershipAgreement") with the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD). Inaccordance with the Partnership Agreement, Tampa Bay Water developed the MasterWater Plan to develop new alternative, preferably non-groundwater, sources of drinkingwater totaling an annual average permitted production capacity of at least 85 milliongallons per day (mgd). The "carrot" for Tampa Bay Water was $183 million dollars offunding from SWFWMD to help pay for the new sources. The "stick" was the potentialfor fines of up to $10,000 per day per well for well fields in violation of the pumpinglimits.The Partnership Agreement called for the phased reduction of pumping from the 11existing wellfields as the new water sources are developed, pursuant to stringent schedulerequirements. The risk to Tampa Bay Water of losing $183 million in funding and being potentiallyliable for many millions more in fines was especially daunting given the price tag of thenew Master Water Plan was $619 million. The Master Water Plan projects cover an areaof about 1,000 square miles, and includes 85 miles of large diameter pipelines. TheMaster Water Plan's three major components are: a 25 mgd seawater desalinationplant; a 66 mgd regional surface water treatment plant; and, a 15 billion gallon off-linereservoir. Fiscally managing the Master Water Plan's projects, inclusive of theSWFWMD funding, would require a significant program of rate increases to Tampa BayWater's customers. Tampa Bay Water's policy managers would therefore be highlyfocused on meeting the programs project schedule and bringing in the projects on budget.Because of the short schedule for project delivery and a desire to reduce risks and costs,Tampa Bay Water originally selected the Design-Build-Own-Operate-Transfer(DBOOT) project delivery method for the seawater desalination treatment plant. Byutilizing the DBOOT approach, Tampa Bay Water expected to realize substantial benefitsfor its member governments. These benefits included the transfer of the projecttechnology risk to the private developer, have access to innovative design skills, andreceive long-term facility operations and maintenance cost efficiencies and guaranties. Includes table, figure.

Product Details

Edition:

Vol. - No.

Published:

06/17/2004

Number of Pages:

15

File Size:

1 file , 350 KB