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Initially, all potable water in Indian River County was:tained <br />from private wells. Even today, many county residents their <br />water from an individual, private well. Over time, however, the <br />need to serve larger residential and non-residential projects <br />resulted in the establishment of centralized potable water <br />systems. While most of these centralized systems were privately <br />owned and operated, the City of Vero Beach was the first <br />government to establish a public system. Within the <br />u nincorporated county, no publicly owned, centralized water <br />system was established until relatively recently. <br />Prior to 1978, Indian River County did not operate any potable <br />water treatment facilities. • In 1978, the county aquired the <br />Gifford Water Treatment Plant from the Farmer's Home <br />Administration. Prior to being taken over by the county, the <br />Gifford facility was owned and operated by a private company. <br />The private operator was in financial trouble and the water <br />treatment facility was experiencing major problems. Although the <br />county was reluctant to become a utilities provider, an agreement <br />w as reached between the county and the Farmer's Home <br />Administration in which the county agreed to take over and <br />operate the Gifford Water Treatment Plant. In return, the <br />Farmer's Home Administration gave the County a $20,000,000 loan <br />for the purpose of providing potable water to County residents. <br />To date, the County has used $9.2 million of this loan. <br />• <br />In 1987, the draft document of the Indian River County Water <br />System Master Plan was developed. The purpose of the Master Plan <br />w as to develop a document for the economical and orderly <br />e xpansion of the County's water system so that it will be capable <br />o f supplying the potable water needs of the eastern half of the <br />county during the period of 1986 - 2005. The County Utilities <br />Department has the responsibility for the operation of the <br />county's potable water s} stem. <br />The areas served by County Utilities are as follows: <br />Imp <br />N orth County Retail Service Area <br />South -County Service Area <br />River's Edge Water Service Area <br />N orth_Beach Service Area <br />W holesale Service Area <br />P otable Water Facilities <br />• <br />P otable water facilities normally consist of a water supply, a <br />t reatment plant, and a distribution system. The water supply can <br />• <br />NOVEMBER 14, 2000 <br />4 <br />-127- <br />EXHIBIT 5 <br />BK 116 PG 139 <br />