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Unresolved Problem

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THE SUNCOAST NEWS

Published: January 3, 2009

The year 2009 has dawned. In the nation's capital, Barack Obama and Congress will soon begin trying to pull the nation out of a severe recession. We just hope they don't do anything to delay the recovery that would happen on its own, absent major interference from the political sector. In Tallahassee, state lawmakers will soon tackle a $2.3 billion budget shortfall. Here's hoping they don't try to solve that problem with taxes that invariably fail to raise the amounts of revenue their supporters claim.

Here on the Suncoast, we enter the New Year with an increasingly critical shortage of drinking water, the result of a prolonged drought. Things might not be quite so bad were it not for our dear friends at Tampa Bay Water. After taking years to get its $140 million desalination plant in southern Hillsborough County producing potable water to its designed capacity, the Clearwater-based regional wholesale utility has another major headache on its hands.

Its $146 million C.W. Bill Young Reservoir, in southeastern Hillsborough, can't handle anywhere near the 15 billion gallons of water it was designed to hold until it is needed at times like this. That's because the many large cracks that have developed in the less-than-4-year-old reservoir's soil cement walls have so far resisted efforts to repair them.

We hope someone has resolved to find out in 2009 why Tampa Bay Water keeps having these whopper problems. There has to be someone or something to blame for this mess.

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