| C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir | |
|---|---|
| Location | Hillsborough County, Florida |
| Lake type | Reservoir |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Surface area | 1,100 acres (4.5 km²) |
| Water volume | 15.5 billion US gallons (59,000,000 m3) |
The C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir is a 15.5 billion US gallons (59,000,000 m3)[1] reservoir which collects water from the Alafia and Hillsborough Rivers in central Florida. It is named for C.W. Bill Young, the U.S. Congressman from Florida's 10th congressional district.[2] Tampa Bay Water, the regional water authority for Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties,[3] worked for nearly a decade in constructing the reservoir, which was completed in June 2005,[2] and officially opened on 15 October 2005.[4]
The 1,100-acre (4.5 km2) reservoir cost $146 million to build, of which $57 million came from Federal funds.[5] It can store 15.5 billion US gallons (59,000,000 m3) of water, enough to provide about one quarter of its service area's drinking water for six months. This eases demand on well water from the Floridan Aquifer. The surrounding 5,200-acre (21 km2) tract of land in Hillsborough County is designated as a wildlife preserve to maintain habitat.[2] In 2007, drought had reduced the amount of water stored in the reservoir to less than half its capacity.[6] This necessitated considering pumping water from the Alafia into the reservoir during the rainy season for use during the dry season.[3]
In 2009, engineers concluded that the original design of the reservoir was inadequate, necessitating renovation work expected to last five years and costing an estimated $125 million.