Florida Puts $100 Million Into Springs and Alternative Water, With $12.6 Million Headed to Polk County
The awards, announced by Governor Ron DeSantis, spread $100 million across 45 projects statewide. Polk County and six of its municipalities share $12.6 million toward connecting to a new regional water supply.
Florida is putting $100 million into the two water problems that run underneath almost every growth argument in the state: protecting its springs, and finding drinking water that does not come only from traditional freshwater sources. Governor Ron DeSantis announced the awards across 45 projects through the state's Springs Restoration and Alternative Water Supply grant programs, including $50 million for 22 projects aimed at expanding alternative water supplies and promoting conservation.
The largest county share in the announcement read this cycle goes to Polk County, where the county and six municipalities will receive a combined $12.6 million. The town of Dundee receives the largest municipal award in the county, $4.765 million. Polk County, Haines City and Winter Haven receive $2 million each, with Auburndale at $750,000, Eagle Lake at $600,000 and Bartow at $500,000.
The Polk money has a specific job: paying for the connections to a supply that is already being built. The awards cover the costs of tying into pipelines being installed by the Polk Regional Water Cooperative, which began construction in 2023 on its Southeast Wellfield - wells drilled into the Lower Floridan Aquifer to provide new drinking-water supplies - and the state funds will help cover holding tanks and the other infrastructure the cities need to receive water from those pipelines.
