Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Emergency Management topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Tampa Bay Water reviews hurricane response; staff proposes 15 recommendations on generators, fuel and redundancy
Summary
The general manager reported on lessons from Hurricanes Helene and Milton, highlighting generator reliability, flooding access and fuel availability; staff proposed 15 recommended actions including generator maintenance, discussions with third‑party power providers, exploring underground power and additional fueling sites.
General Manager Chuck Carden briefed the board on the agency's hurricane response after Hurricanes Helene and Milton, summarizing an internal "hot wash" that identified three main focus areas: infrastructure resilience, incident command structure, and overall emergency operations. Carden said the agency will share a full after‑action report with member governments.
Carden reported the regional reservoir remained near full ("almost 15,000,000,000 gallons") and provided operating statistics: average deliveries through January were "almost 196,000,000 gallons a day," desalination produced nearly 12 MGD in January and surface water treatment operated near its 90 MGD target at about 88.4 MGD. He also reminded the board the district emergency order allowing a higher outtake from the Alafia River (19% vs. 10%) will expire in March.
On storm lessons, Carden said the most acute issues were generator availability and maintenance, facility flooding and access, and fuel availability for crews after storms. He told the board staff convened a working group and listed 15 recommendations in the agenda item, including: increase generator maintenance and spare parts inventories; discuss third‑party generator access at two well fields that rely on external providers; explore undergrounding power at critical well fields; evaluate flood zone designations; consider an additional fueling station south of Cypress Creek; and improve communications redundancy beyond cellular networks.
Commissioner Peters suggested partnering with Hillsborough County for fueling access; Carden said staff had already discussed mutual staging at hardened county facilities and would explore shared fueling options. Commissioners asked staff to coordinate findings with county and city consultants preparing regional after‑action reports. Carden said staff will meet with member utility directors to improve coordination before the next storm season.
