A cooperative in Levy County is proposing an ambitious plan to tackle saltwater intrusion, septic-to-sewer transitions and municipal utility debt all at once through a regional water and wastewater project.
The project, which is in the planning phase, would pump and process groundwater in Bronson, transport it diagonally across the county to Otter Creek and Cedar Key and treat the returning wastewater back in Bronson by 2030.
The idea comes from a 2022 study commissioned by the Suwannee River Water Management District, which suggested a regional authority would better address municipal water concerns than a town-by-town approach.
The Town of Bronson, Town of Otter Creek and Cedar Key Water and Sewer District formed such an authority, called the Waccasassa Water and Wastewater Cooperative, in June 2023.
It presented its plan for informational purposes to the Levy County Board of County Commissioners last week. Here are five takeaways:
- The plan includes new water and wastewater treatment facilities in Bronson and 35 miles of pipeline to Otter Creek and Cedar Key.
The wellfield/water treatment plant and advanced wastewater treatment facility would sit side by side adjacent to the Levy County jail and launch with capacities of 500,000 and 400,000 gallons per day, respectively.
Water and wastewater pipelines would follow the right-of-way along State Road 24 to Otter Creek and Cedar Key. The line would be installed six to eight feet underground, deeper in environmentally sensitive areas and when crossing other utilities.
Future phases of the project span to 2070 and would include increasing the system’s capacity and potentially extending to other municipalities.
- Each municipality has a different motivation to participate.
Bronson, Otter Creek and Cedar Key have two things in common: small-town populations and outsized water woes.
With a combined total population around 2,000, “there's no way in God's Earth that any of these towns can fix any of these problems on their own, at all, zero,” said Sue Colson, Cedar Key Water and Sewer District board member and secretary of the cooperative.
Saltwater intrusion brought down the number of operable wells in Cedar Key from five to two. Those that remain produce water that’s “not exactly palatable,” Colson said, and requires “Rube Goldberg type of processing” to remove contaminants.
Cedar Key’s wastewater treatment facility is located on the island itself, putting it at high risk of flooding with potentially devastating effects to nearby clam farms.
Last year, back-to-back hurricanes submerged all of the town's lift stations, causing them to fail. The town has refurbished five of 17 lift stations so far with state funding.
Relocating the wastewater facility off the island would cost an additional $13 to $15 million.
“We cannot any longer ignore the fact that we are an island and we're low lying,” Colson said. “Before you sink millions of dollars into something, it should be in a place that's more suitable.”
Twenty miles away, Otter Creek lacks a centralized wastewater system. Instead, its properties are dotted with about 80 septic tanks, known to contribute to groundwater contamination when improperly maintained. Most residents drink bottled water, according to a report from the cooperative’s engineering contractor, as “treated water retains some taste and odor.”
Bronson’s water, the report says, requires little treatment. The town’s community water system has a capacity of more than 860,000 gallons per day, of which residents use an average of 165,000 gallons per day, according to estimates from 2022.
The town is repaying a $2.7 million loan it took out to hook up more residents to its wastewater treatment facility and needs $12.4 million more worth of upgrades to meet groundwater quality requirements set by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
“To do any kind of updates right now is just not affordable for our town,” said Rachel Weeks, Bronson Town Council member and chair of the cooperative.
By selling land to the cooperative for the new facilities, Bronson could recuperate some cash and simultaneously meet wastewater improvement requirements. That sale, though, would come at the expense of indefinitely supplying water to communities down the pipeline.
“One city can't outweigh the others,” said Weeks. “We have to do what is fair and what is cost efficient and what is good for the people, for all the people.”
- Municipalities, not households, would buy water and wastewater capacity.
The plan, if implemented, wouldn’t change who bills residents for their water.
The Town of Bronson, Town of Otter Creek and Cedar Key Water and Sewer District would be the ones making the switch. Each would commit to buying a certain share of water and wastewater capacity based on their community’s needs.
The cooperative will hear wholesale cost estimates at its Aug. 27 meeting in Bronson at the Dogan Cobb Building at 1 p.m.
- The cooperative aims to cover the $138 million projected cost with grants and forgivable loans.
The FDEP, Florida Department of Commerce and Suwannee River Water Management District have awarded the cooperative $900,000 to date for pre-planning and testing.
The group is applying for about $150 million through state funding, split between $138 million for the project itself and $13 million for repairs, demolition and connections in Cedar Key and Otter Creek.
Bronson, Otter Creek and the Cedar Key Water and Sewer District will each pay a wholesale rate to cover operating costs, administrative fees and maintenance, among other expenses. If grants and forgivable loans don’t cover the full cost of installing the system, those rates will rise to make up the difference.
Municipalities, in turn, would set costs for their residents.
“If we can't get 100% funding, I just don't see how this would move forward,” Weeks said, emphasizing municipalities’ and residents’ financial strain.
- The project is in its earliest stages. Cooperative members can pull out if ongoing studies raise environmental or economic concerns.
“ It's not like somebody just got up one day and said, ‘Hey, let's just put a pipeline up in Bronson,’” Colson said. “ This was studied and it was examined and it was, it was talked about through the DEP and through the water management district as a good potential way to resolve problems.”
Crews will begin drilling a test well in Bronson this month.
They’ll pump out high volumes of water, beyond what the project would remove per day, for two weeks to test for cleanliness and impacts to groundwater levels. “If this test drill goes well, then I feel like we've passed the first stage,” Weeks said. “The second stage is that this has to be affordable for the cities and for the people.”
The cooperative will discuss desalination as a potential alternative to the project for Otter Creek and Cedar Key only at its Aug. 20 meeting.
