Hickory Hills Water Resource Development & WUP Permitting
SI assisted Sierra Properties in
obtaining a new Individual WUP for the irrigation of the lawn and landscape for the Hickory Hills golfing community located in Hernando County. An
innovative and creative dimension was added to this project by designing a water resource plan that incorporated the natural topography, existing
geology and onsite and reclaimed water resources to best utilize the land to promote the highest level of water conservation, extremely efficient
water recycling and water purification, and best water management practices for irrigation use and stormwater capture.
Hickory Hills is located in an area of Hernando County that is quite pleasing to the eye
with rolling
hills and small ponds and forested wetlands. This natural topography with the underlying geology of sandy soils and confining clay layers provided the
site with a built-in mechanism to efficiently capture and recycle water. Runoff water, not directly absorbed by the landscape, would either migrate
into the wetlands and small ponds through overland ground runoff, or it would permeate the surficial aquifer, being filtered and purified as it moved
through the sandy soils. This groundwater would then be discharged through the natural seeps and springs into the low lying ponds that could be reused
for irrigation, recycling the water naturally and efficiently while also providing a cleansing factor.
By
conducting an extensive hydrogeological investigation, SI determined the surface and storm water flows by modeling rain inputs, reclaimed water flows
and irrigation runoff. SI modeled the groundwater seepage rates and spring flows during normal conditions and with regular irrigation and reclaimed
inputs. SI calculated and designed reservoirs to capture and store these waters to efficiently recycle and reuse it for irrigation purposes.
With this project, SI broke new ground in recommending for the WUP to be permitted for a prolonged time
period such as 20 years instead of the 6 or 10 years as normally permitted. A long-term WUP would accommodate a phased construction program. The
long-term permit was to allow for the increasing use of water as the community developed. This kind of permit was one of the first permits of its kind
for community development projects. SI obtained the second long-term permit for the renewal of the Lithia Springs WUP.
