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Comprehensive Plan Potable Water Sub-Element <br /> <br /> <br />Community Development Department Indian River County 35 <br />directing growth, both residential and non-residential, into the urban service area. The county has <br />also expanded centralized potable water service within the urban service area. From 1990 to 2008, <br />expansion of the county's water service was extensive in terms of the increased geographic area <br />served and in terms of new customers. During that period, water customers increased by 137% (from <br />17,000 to 40,300 customers). Due to the extension of water lines, centralized potable water service is <br />now available to most of the urban part of the county, and 94 out of 183 subdivisions having lots <br />which are "undersized" are now served by a centralized potable water system. <br /> <br />According to current county land development regulations, each new subdivision within the urban <br />service area is required to connect to the regional water system if the development meets criteria <br />contained in the Water and Wastewater Connection Matrix for New Development. That matrix states <br />that, for subdivisions, connection is required if the development meets either of the following criteria. <br /> <br /> <br />- It is within one-quarter of a mile of existing water lines; or <br /> <br />- It contains 25 or more lots. <br /> <br />Currently, the county’s regional potable water system serves commercial/industrial development as <br />well as residential development. Since plan adoption, the regional potable water system has been <br />expanded to all commercial/industrial areas in the county, including the three I-95 <br />commercial/industrial nodes. As a result of that expansion, the development potential of land within <br />the Urban Service Area has greatly increased for both residential and commercial/industrial projects. <br /> <br />Although the regional potable water system service area has been greatly expanded, there are still <br />several areas not yet served. Those areas include more than 100 residential subdivisions, some of <br />which are not suitable for individual wells on each lot. For that reason, additional expansion of the <br />system within the urban service area is planned. Included in these areas are Vero Lake Estates; parts <br />of Roseland, Wabasso, Winter Beach; and other areas. <br /> <br />In the future, expansion priority should be given to subdivisions where the Indian River County <br />Health Department has determined that the risk of private wells becoming contaminated is <br />unacceptably high. Several factors should be considered when making that determination. First, <br />existing development using contaminated wells should be given the highest priority for connection to <br />the regional system. The next level of priority should be for existing development where the <br />separation distance between wells and septic tank drainfields is insufficient. <br /> <br />Another factor that should be considered in establishing the potable water system’s expansion <br />priority is the development rate. To reduce the number of new wells which could become <br />contaminated, service to fast growing areas should be provided before service to slow growing areas. <br />In so doing, service should be expanded in a contiguous, rather than “leap-frog”, manner.