Irrigation fees to rise 50%

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Braden River Utilities, the entity that provides irrigation water to Lakewood Ranch, is moving forward with infrastructure improvements that will link its water supply to reclaimed water from the city of Sarasota.

But, those improvements won’t come cheap.

The improvements, as well as overall increases in operating costs, will result in a 50% rate increase for non-potable water, which will go from 60 cents per 1,000 gallons to 90 cents per 1,000 gallons, starting Oct. 1. Monthly user fees also will be increasing from $663.80 to $683.71.

The rates have not changed since Oct. 1, 2008 and Oct. 1, 2007, respectively.

BRU informed Lakewood Ranch Town Hall officials of the pending fee changes earlier this month, and members of the Lakewood Ranch Inter-District Authority Board learned details of the proposal during a meeting April 17.

“These are the rates we need to do to improve the service and to break even and recover our costs,” said Tony Chiofalo, vice president of Braden River Utilities, a subsidiary of Lakewood Ranch developer Schroeder-Manatee Ranch. “These new supplies cost a lot of money, and there’s no way around it.”

Lakewood Ranch residents, who are charged for irrigation water through their community development district special assessments, likely will see an increase of between $4 and $8 monthly for water usage.

Part of the increase will come from rates charged by Sarasota — 40 cents per 1,000 gallons — which is increasing operating costs, Chiofalo said.

Chiofalo said all customers of Braden River Utilities, not just the Inter-District Authority and the CDDs it represents, will see rate increases.

Lakewood Ranch Town Hall officials said the increase will have a major impact on next year’s budgets for Community Development Districts 1, 2, 4 and 5 and the IDA and may force boards to further delay planned improvements and other projects, or move forward with them more strategically. Regardless, an increase in assessments will not be avoidable.

“(The CDDs) all have things they’d like to do or need to do,” Town Hall Executive Director Eva Rey said. “We have to balance the wants and needs during the budget development process (we are going through now).”
IDA Chairman Tom Green asked for BRU to revisit a terms-of-service agreement to ensure water pressure and quality are truly addressed by the improvements.

Bob Simons, vice president of development for SMR, said 10 wells feed the Lakewood Ranch area, and because those wells continue to be pumped, the quality of the water they produce will continue to decline.
“If we keep pumping harder and harder on the wells, the water quality is going to deteriorate,” Simons said. “Our goal is to try to replace the well water with reclaimed water. It’s better water.”

The Southwest Florida Water Management District, a state agency responsible for managing area water and related natural resources, also is pressing BRU to utilize reclaimed water in the existing Lakewood Ranch and is requiring its use as development in the community continues, particularly in the area known as the Stewardship District.

BRU officials hope the ability to provide more water will help eliminate irrigation water pressure problems by Lakewood Ranch residents. A new watering schedule also is expected to help resolve the issue.

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].