Greg Veliz, executive director of Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority, joined Good Morning Keys on Keys Talk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s going on with water.
The restoration and replacement of the main water line in the Keys continues.
Veliz said, “It’s been very good. At times we got comfortable, and we were so used to moving along seamlessly. Then we ran into that one problem right up in the early parts of this project. So then we put up the alarms, and we thought this was going to be really bad, and it ended up not being that way. So we over prepared, and we got very lucky. So that’s a good thing. We couldn’t have done this without the school board, the sheriff’s department, they’ve been invaluable throughout this. They’ve been in every meeting. DOT has worked with us, everyone was on pins and needles with this one, but we made it happen, and it worked out great. So while I’d like to think we got lucky, I think planning had a lot to do with it, too. So I want to thank all those entities for their help.”
With the legislative session coming up, state support for capital projects will be requested.
Veliz said, “We have been relying on Tallahassee to get us through that project, and they bought in very early on the project up on Crawl Key, which is basically just rebuilding what we’ve what we have now in in Stock Island, which is an oil plant that’s capable of producing 4 million gallons a day. We’re already out of the ground. It was just a concept just a couple of years ago, and now it’s actually coming to fruition. So that’s a big deal. Every year you don’t know. Every year you hear the horror stories of this year’s worse than last year. And yet, they continue to fund us, and we’re extremely grateful for that. Senator Rodriguez and Representative Mooney are in our corner every time and I think the leadership of both of both House and Senate are with us. So governor’s office, it’s been a great partnership thus far.”
Could housing projects put a strain on some of the water supply?
Veliz said, “We’re just now getting brought into these conversations, kind of like on the periphery. There has been talk in the past about possibly us picking up their water. I don’t know. We have an allocation from the aquifer. We don’t anticipate that to change. I don’t know what Homestead or Florida City’s demands are going to be, but I think it’s a discussion that has to be had.”
Thus far this year has been a pretty good one.
Veliz said, “We’ve got a month and a half left, but yeah, thus far, it’s been a really good year.”
What about the new RO plant?
Veliz said, “It’s going to be a several year project. The pipeline that’s going to be a project that’s going to be dictated by money, because it’s very expensive, but my projection is that it never stops, that we continue to replace and we continue to work on it. So hopefully that’s what will happen. Wastewater is often times forgotten, and yet it could be your biggest problem. So we’ve got to continue to concentrate on that also. We’re getting towards the end of the year, holiday season. Everyone be safe and have a great time with your families, and we’ll continue next year.”
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