Tampa Bay Water is a regional wholoesale drinking water utility that serves customers in the Tampa Bay, Florida region. The agency is a special district of the state created by interlocal agreement among six member governments. A nine-member board of directors composed of two elected commissioners from each member county and one elected representative from each member city oversees the policy decisions of the agency. The member governments that make up the board of directors are: The cities of New Port Richey, St. Petersburg, Florida

St. Petersburg, Florida

St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. It is known as a vacation destination for both American and foreign tourists. As of 2008, the population estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau is 245,314, making St...

, and Tampa

Tâmpa

Tâmpa may refer to several villages in Romania:* Tâmpa, a village in Băcia Commune, Hunedoara County* Tâmpa, a village in Miercurea Nirajului, Mureş County* Tâmpa, a mountain in Braşov city...

, and Hillsborough County

Hillsborough County, Florida

As of the census of 2000, there were 998,948 people, 391,357 households, and 255,164 families residing in the county. The population density was 951 people per square mile . There were 425,962 housing units at an average density of 405 per square mile...

, Pasco County and Pinellas County. These member governments provide water to over 2.5 million citizens.

Tampa Bay Water, formerly the West Coast Regional Water Supply Authority, was created in 1998 to deliver drinking water in an environmentally sound, cost-effective and reliable manner. To achieve these goals, the Agency created a diversified water supply system to reduce dependence on a sole source—groundwater. The regional utility built the C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir of 15500000000 gallons (58,673,886 m³), a seawater desalination

Desalination

Desalination, desalinization, or desalinisation refers to any of several processes that remove some amount of salt and other minerals from saline water...

 plant with a maximum output of 25000000 gallons (94,635.3 m³) per day, a surface water treatment plant with a maximum output of 120000000 gallons (454,249.4 m³) per day, and interconnected more than 200 miles (321.9 km) of large-diameter pipeline. The system spans over 2000 square miles (5,180 km²) to deliver drinking water at an average rate of 171000000 gallons (647,305.5 m³) per day.

The region's water sources are:

• Surface water from the Alafia River
  Alafia River
  The Alafia River is long, with a watershed of in Hillsborough County flowing into Tampa Bay. The watershed contains ten named lakes and ponds, and 29 named rivers, streams and canals. During the rainy season, excess water is pumped to the new C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir, which opened in...
  
  , Hillsborough River
  Hillsborough River (Florida)
  The Hillsborough River is a river located in the state of Florida in the USA. It arises in the Green Swamp near the juncture of Hillsborough, Pasco and Polk counties, and flows through Pasco and Hillsborough Counties to an outlet in the city of Tampa on Tampa Bay. The name Hillsborough River first...
  
   and Tampa Bypass Canal
  Tampa Bypass Canal
  The Tampa Bypass Canal and Palm River are a flood bypass operated by the Southwest Florida Water Management District. The canal includes several concrete flood control structures and was constructed during the 1960s and 1970s...
  
  
• Reverse osmosis desalinated seawater from Tampa Bay
• Groundwater from regional wellfields

Board of directors

• Chairman: Ann Hildebrand, Pasco County Commissioner
• Vice Chairman: Susan Latvala, Pinellas County Commissioner
• Neil Brickfield, Pinellas County Commissioner]
• Karl Nurse, St. Petersburg Councilman
• Scott McPherson, Mayor, New Port Richey
• Charlie Miranda, Tampa Councilman
• Sandra Murman, Hillsborough County Commissioner
• Ted Schrader, Pasco County Commissioner
• Mark Sharpe, Hillsborough County Commissioner