Bay Area Reservoir full after Tampa gets more than 77 inches of rain this year

RIVERVIEW, Fla. – Tampa saw more than 77 inches of rain this year, the most since record keeping began in 1890.

For many Floridians, this comes with many hardships. We have seen major flooding in the midst of already saturated ground, but it has prepared us better than ever for the dry season.

“Our reservoir is our water conservation account. All that rainfall helped us store water. And that’s really what this reservoir is built for is to save water for when it dries up,” said Brandon Moore, of Tampa Bay Water.

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Right now, the CW Bill Young Regional Reservoir in Riverview is full, with more than 15 billion gallons of usable water. It filled quickly this fall, going from five to 15 billion gallons since August.

“That’s enough to fill Raymond James Stadium 33 times, actually. And when it fills, we stop putting water in and save it for when we need it,” Moore said.

When the reservoir is full, it can provide 25% of the region’s drinking water needs for more than six months.

“It’s the wettest year on record for Tampa, and now we’re entering our dry season, and it’s amazing how we can go from too much rain to not enough rain and then in four or five months we say, ‘we’ve got a little problem here we need some rain,'” said FOX 13 Chief Meteorologist Paul Dellegatto.

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Earlier this year, during a severe drought, the reservoir ran low; up to two billion gallons, so that bodes well for next year.

“We will have additional droughts in our future, this is just a snapshot in time,” Dellegatto said. “Very few people complain about the rain, but even here we can have too much rain and the echo: the water has already filled a reservoir that will serve us in the winter and spring.”

Although it is full to the brim, the tank is controlled by pipes and cannot overflow.

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