On August 13, 2004, Hurricane Charley surprised residents and meteorologists when the storm took an unexpected jog and made landfall near Port Charlotte, Florida. As the Category 4 storm entered Charlotte Harbor, it initiated a path of destruction that would travel up the entire length of the Peace River basin. Water supply to the region was affected, but due to the cooperation of counties and local utilities, the impact to that aspect of life was reduced.
The Peace River/Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority’s reservoir and water treatment facility, located on the Peace River, took a direct hit from the storm and endured winds that exceeded 150 mph. Sarasota County, a member government of the Water Authority and a customer, is connected to the water treatment facility via a 42-inch transmission pipeline that delivers approximately 3.5 million gallons per day of potable water to the Carlton Wellfield and Water Treatment facility in Sarasota County.
Following the storm, the Peace River facility was not able to pump water from the river, reservoir, or ASR wells. Generators had the facility itself up and running, but downed power lines made it impossible to bring water into the facility for treatment. Sarasota County increased pumpage from the Carlton Wellfield and begin to pump water to the Peace River plant for distribution to its other customers. The flow in the 42-inch transmission pipeline was reversed for a total of 26 days. Volumes of that magnitude had not been pumped from the Carlton Wellfield prior to that time period and, in addition to providing the Authority with potable water, served as a real-life aquifer pumping test. Crisis forced the cooperation that has become a model for regional emergency water supply plans and the knowledge gained from the experience has continued to shape our decision-making process.
