Florida has awarded $22.6 million to expand Tampa Bay’s drinking water supply, directing $10 million to Tampa Bay Water for additional treatment capacity and another $12.6 million to seven Polk County communities developing alternative sources of drinking water.
Tampa Bay Water, which supplies drinking water to member governments across Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties, will use its funding to expand surface water treatment capacity by 12.5 million gallons per day. In Polk County, the money will support efforts coordinated through the Polk Regional Water Cooperative to develop supplies using brackish water, which contains more salt than freshwater but less than seawater and can be treated for drinking.
The two awards are part of a $100 million statewide investment announced Wednesday by Gov. Ron DeSantis in Crystal River, where the state committed $50 million to 22 alternative water supply projects and another $50 million to 23 projects intended to restore Florida’s springs and improve water quality.
The alternative water projects are expected to produce more than 60 million gallons per day once completed, with investments extending beyond conventional treatment facilities into reclaimed water systems, aquifer recharge and conservation. Six reclaimed water projects will share $19.1 million, including an expansion at the City of Fort Myers’ Central Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility and a transmission project in Apopka, where treated wastewater can replace drinking water for irrigation and other uses.
The Alternative Water Supply Grant Program has received $385 million in legislative appropriations since 2019, including the latest awards. According to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, projects funded through the program are expected to provide more than 400 million gallons of water per day when fully operational.
The state’s other $50 million allocation will support springs restoration through wastewater infrastructure improvements and projects designed to reduce nitrogen pollution. Collectively, the 23 projects are expected to remove more than 55,000 pounds of nitrogen annually, including work in Citrus County, where $3 million will fund septic-to-sewer conversions and nitrogen-reducing upgrades benefiting the Chassahowitzka-Homosassa Springs and Kings Bay and Crystal River Springs.
Since 2019, Florida has invested $480 million in springs restoration projects, which the Department of Environmental Protection estimates will reduce nitrogen pollution by approximately 900,000 pounds per year.
The awards cover projects selected for fiscal year 2026-27, although the state’s announcement did not specify when Tampa Bay Water’s additional treatment capacity or Polk County’s brackish water projects would become operational. The full list of funded projects is available through Protecting Florida Together.