Lake Wales staff brief commission on PRWC amendment adding Alafia River Project

Sarah Irvine, special projects coordinator, explained that the Polk Regional Water Cooperative (PRWC) — formed about 10 years ago to study alternative water for Polk County — has a combined projects implementation agreement that lists several projects. She described the original projects (West Polk Lower Floridian Well Field, Southwest Well Field, and the Peace Creek Integrated Water Supply Project) and a 2019 amendment that added a land-use transition facility; the current amendment would add the Alafia River Project as an additional ("0.25") project for consideration.

Irvine emphasized that Lake Wales is an associate member of the implementation agreement and is not currently contributing funding to the projects listed. She said the city retains the right to participate later ("pay to play") in a project's phase 2 if it chooses and if capacity is available. No project-specific funding commitment or schedule was approved during the work session; staff framed the amendment as adding another option to the cooperative's long-term planning.