Niagara forges ahead with plans for Lake water-bottling plant

TAVARES - A California company may change course to ensure that it opens a bottled-water plant in south Lake County despite huge opposition from local governments and residents.

Officials from Niagara Bottling LLC have worked for months to get a permit from the St. Johns River Water Management District to withdraw more than 177 million gallons of fresh drinking water out of the ground, bottle it and sell it to retailers.

The proposal is being heavily scrutinized in part because the district has identified most of Lake as a priority water-resource caution area, where future development demands are expected to outpace the groundwater supply in five years, forcing local utilities to pump water into the county from alternative sources miles away.

Now Niagara is considering a way to get the plant operating regardless of the requested St. Johns permit and the intense public opposition: just get the water from somewhere else.

"Niagara is in the process of evaluating a number of different alternatives that make sense for the environment, their customers and business," said Honey Rand, a Tampa-based public-relations specialist hired by Niagara. "This is fairly typical in the business sector."

Rand said she wanted to make it clear that "nothing has changed" regarding Niagara's request for a permit from St. Johns.


No signs of backing off

Residents and governments argue that the looming water shortage is too critical to allow Niagara to move forward with its plans to draw water from the aquifer. But the bottler already has invested millions and shows no signs of backing off plans to open a plant.

Last week, county staffers approved a master site plan allowing Niagara to modify the 291,000-square-foot building it purchased for $15 million at the county's Christopher C. Ford Commerce Park near Groveland.

Niagara qualified for that approval only because the company met all county building requirements -- county commissioners oppose the water plant's proposed water use and in November voted against giving the project $2.3 million worth of public incentives.

The planned building modifications include adding four large water tanks with a total capacity of 200,000 gallons, according to county officials. The largest tanks could be perched on towers about 62 feet above the ground, officials said.

During discussions with county planners, representatives for Niagara said they were working to bring water to the plant from other locations, including Spring of Life, a bulk-water operation in Montverde currently permitted to sell 100 million gallons of water a year, or about 8.3 million gallons a month.


Water in Wildwood

The Southwest Florida Water Management District, which is urging residents in that part of the state to reduce their water use because of pressing drought conditions, issued a permit in January for a bulk bottled-water operation in east Sumter County. Wildwood Springs Bulk Water Inc., run by William and Debbie Farkus of Wildwood, is permitted to withdraw an average of 181 million gallons of groundwater a year, although it is not known whether that company has talked with Niagara.

Representatives for Spring of Life and Wildwood Springs could not be reached for comment.

St. Johns officials said some public utilities also could sell water to Niagara if they are permitted for commercial and industrial uses and do not exceed their allotted water amount. Otherwise, the utility could get a permit modification from the district.

Lake County Attorney Sandy Minkoff said that despite opposition to Niagara's requested water permit, the county likely cannot stop the plant from operating at the industrial park.

County Commissioner Elaine Renick said she is frustrated by the situation.

"I thought we were going to be able to protect the water resources," Renick said. "And to think they can just get around it."


'Still taking water resources'

Rob Kelly, president of the Citizens Coalition of Lake County, said Niagara's plant would have the same impact on Lake's dwindling water supply, whether the company gets its own permit from the St. Johns or it receives water from other wells.

"It is still taking water resources from the Lake County area that ultimately will affect the price that residents here pay for water in the future," Kelly said.

Central Florida's projected demands through 2025 are expected to exceed groundwater availability by 200 million gallons a day. The water district is urging local governments to contribute millions of dollars to pipe in extra water from the St. Johns River -- a plan that likely will raise customers' water bills considerably.




Robert Sargent can be reached at rsargent@orlandosentinel.com or 352-742-5909.

Related topic galleries: Tampa, Water Restrictions, Local Authority, St. Johns River Water Management District, Plant Openings, Niagara Bottling LLC, Water Supply

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