Palm Coast transmits 20-year water supply work plan to state; staff highlight brackish wells and conservation

The Palm Coast City Council voted unanimously to transmit an amendment to the city's 2050 Comprehensive Plan that incorporates the Water Supply Facilities Work Plan, a 20-year utility planning document staff said is required by state law and intended to align land-use decisions with available water supply.

Peter Russell, deputy director of utilities, presented the plan as a long-term framework covering the full utility service area and projects necessary to meet projected demand over 20 years. Russell said the city's average daily flows are currently trending below previous projections and that the utility has implemented recovery and blending projects that reduced discharge to surface waters. "Since the onset of [blending] in April 2011, we have saved 2,600,000,000 gallons of water since then," Russell said. He added that a separate recovery project at Plant 2 dating from March 2015 has saved about 1,900,000,000 gallons; together those projects total…