A developer seeking to build a 19.4 acre development on the Pasco side of County Line Road, prompted a discussion on whether the county would be willing to provide fire suppression water and possibly potable water to the project. The property in question is located at 18430 County Line Rd. As of January, Pasco is also looking into providing water to the property- as they should.
“Any water sent to Pasco County would come from the West System, which already serves the largest portion of the County’s water demand,” states Jeff Trommer, P.G. the lead hydrologist with Legette, Brashears & Graham, the Hernando County Utilities Department consultation firm.
Current numbers show that the Hernando/Pasco water usage has gone up in recent years, from 16.9 million gallons per day in 2015 to 18.8 million gallons per day. The projected usage for Hernando is set at 23.3 million gallons per day by 2035- but the determining factors for a county’s usage of water varies from year to year and has been affected by recent droughts.
The formal request made to the Board is a modification to an existing interlocal contract between Hernando and Pasco that would grant access to sewer lines, connect the project to the local utilities and allow for fire line services for the property. This project would also only use four thousand gallons of water a day on top of Hernando County’s allotted twenty three million gallons per day- but connecting the project to the utilities is the only way it would be able to continue.
Even though the project sits right on the county line between Hernando and Pasco, commissioners felt that a decision like this should not be made by them and should really be taken care of by Pasco County. If the board elects to approve this large project, on behalf of Hernando County, but denies another future project, it would invariably show favoritism. Hernando County should not be responsible for a Pasco County utilities matter.
No formal action was taken, but the BOCC agreed to work with Pasco Utilities and will conduct a follow up meeting, scheduled for whenever a deal is worked out with Pasco.