As Gov. Ron DeSantis likes to note, Florida is the nation's fastest growing state. But the population boom is putting strain on essential services, including water.
It’s in the Zephyrhills plastic bottles filled from the community’s sparkling springs and sold in supermarkets nationwide. It glistens from a lake surrounded by trees and park benches. And it flows from a clover-shaped fountain outside city hall.
The rapid growth has become part of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’s platform for the GOP presidential nomination, and he frequently boasts that 1,000 people move to Florida each day.
Many know the product by its label, which pictures a spring of sparkling blue water surrounded by lush greenery and a bright yellow sun. Beneath the Zephyrhills name, the company notes that the bottle contains “100% Natural Florida Spring Water.” In 2010, the city had a little over 13,000 residents, according to the U.S. Census; as of last year, it had nearly 20,000 — a 53 percent increase.
“We all used to be asked, ‘What’s the most important thing about real estate?’ It’s location, location, location,” real estate investor David Waronker told the Zephyrhills City Council in May.DeSantis grew up less than an hour away from Zephyrhills, and he has said that protecting the state’s environment is a priority.
DeSantis spokesman Jeremy Redfern did not respond directly to a request for comment on the state’s efforts to balance environmental protection and growth, and he did not comment on claims from conservationists that the governor is falling short on his promises. Instead, he sent a list of what he called “historic investments” in environmental projects, including $500 million toward restoration work in the Everglades and $31 million to fight red tide and other algal blooms.
The state Department of Environmental Protection estimates that as demand for water grows in the next two decades, groundwater resources will be “insufficient” in large areas of the state. To cope, the department is exploring options. The legislature recently approved $190 million of state funding for “Armstrong, of the Southwest Florida Water Management District, said alternatives to pumping from the aquifer are also helpful, including conservation and usingwater — highly treated wastewater.
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