The recent afternoon thunderstorms haven't rescued Tampa Bay's water supply, and Apollo Beach and Ruskin residents should expect one-day-a-week watering restrictions to stay in place through Oct. 1.
The C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir, the region's primary drinking-water storage facility, remains 14.5 inches below where it stood a year ago, Warren Hogg, chief science officer for Tampa Bay Water, told WFLA on Thursday, Aug. 6.
"We've been in a drought since September of last year and we didn't get really good rain until pretty much the end of July and August, so we're far behind for the year," Hogg said.
Meanwhile, the Tampa Water Department has ramped up water purchasing from less than 500,000 gallons per day last fiscal year to more than 8 million gallons per day this year. That's a 16-fold increase. Rory Jones of the Tampa Water Department said the surge should not trigger a rate hike because the cost of the different source water is already built into the existing rate structure.
What it means locally
Apollo Beach and Ruskin remain under Modified Phase III water shortage restrictions, the most severe level declared by the Southwest Florida Water Management District. Lawn irrigation is limited to one designated day per week, based on the last digit of a resident's address, and only during overnight hours: midnight to 4 a.m. or 8 p.m. to midnight. Fines start at $100.
As we reported July 26, the district declared the shortage after recording a 13.7-inch regional rainfall deficit. In May 2026, the rainfall deficit was 11.4 inches, according to Hillsborough County.
The drought, which began in September 2025, has been called one of the worst in 50 years.
The desalination plant's role
The Tampa Bay Seawater Desalination Plant, located at Tampa Electric's Big Bend Power Station in Apollo Beach, can produce up to 25 million gallons of drinking water per day. Tampa Bay Water describes the facility as a "drought-proof" alternative supply that accounts for roughly 10 percent of the region's total capacity.
The WFLA report did not specify whether the 8 million gallons per day being purchased by Tampa's water department comes from the desalination plant or other regional sources.
What's next
Hogg said officials want the reservoir full by the time rainy season ends in roughly two months. That will require heavy, sustained rainfall in the upper Hillsborough River and Alafia River watersheds to keep those rivers flowing into the reservoir.
No further Southwest Florida Water Management District board action on the water shortage declaration has been publicly scheduled. The current restrictions run through Oct. 1. Residents who use reclaimed water for irrigation are exempt.
Residents can report watering violations by calling the Water Conservation Hotline at (813) 224-8993.
