St. Johns County utilities director outlines push for reclaimed water, tiered rates and regional collaboration

Neil Shinkry, St. Johns County's director of water utilities, said the county is stepping up efforts to curb potable-water irrigation, expand reclaimed-water use and improve system responsiveness.

"We have a tiered rate structure," Shinkry said, and the utilities department has installed automated meter-reading technology to detect leaks and alert customers. He said reclaimed water currently supplies about 60% of irrigation needs and the department aims to raise that share to roughly 90% within five years.

The scale of the effort, Shinkry said, also includes more targeted community outreach. "We've hired a dedicated person through our Office of Public Affairs," he said, to run campaigns, social posts and targeted messaging to neighborhoods that use large amounts of water.

Shinkry described tiered customer rates as a core tool: "The more you use, the more you pay," he said, explaining that the utility structures rates in 5,000-gallon blocks to discourage use of potable water for irrigation and to push customers toward reclaimed water or other alternatives. The transcript of the interview contains unclear dollar figures for some tiers; specific per-thousand-gallon dollar amounts were not fully clear in the recording.

Shinkry also described the county's role in a regional initiative called Water First North Florida. He said the collaboration involves 14 counties and municipalities and seeks sustainable, cost-effective solutions for a projected regional consumptive-use need (which he described as about 600 million, transcript units not specified) over the next 20 years. He named partners including JEA, Clay County and Gainesville Regional Authority and said the group will pursue options such as treated reclaimed-water reuse and aquifer recharge.

On operations, Shinkry said the county has invested in SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) automation so staff are notified quickly of pressure drops or other issues, allowing faster, more targeted repairs. "We're instantly knowing what our pressures are," he said, and the county is investing in valves to isolate problems so fewer customers are affected during repairs. He added that customer complaints have remained minimal over the last five years.

Shinkry framed the work as a mix of technology, partnerships and customer behavior: investments in meters and automation provide data; regional collaboration seeks scalable solutions; and outreach encourages customers to use the tools provided. He said the county leadership and commission have supported those investments.

The utilities department did not announce any new regulations or formal board actions during the podcast. Next steps Shinkry identified were continued outreach, implementation of reclaimed-water expansions and coordination with regional partners.