CF Industries Water Supply Planning and Economic Analysis

Client: CF Industries (CFI)

Location: Hardee County, FL

Summary: ENTRIX, Inc. was contracted by CF Industries (CFI), a major phosphate mining and chemical processing company, to assist with their water supply planning and economic analysis of natural resources. Because CFI’s operations are located in the Southern Water Use Caution Area, a designated Minimum Flows and Levels (MFL) recovery area, planning for and developing new water supplies is a complex process.

ENTRIX is working with the Southwest Florida Water Management District to quantify and negotiate the net groundwater benefit for 2.0 million gallons of water recharged into the Upper Floridan Aquifer via the CFI Aquifer Recharge and Recovery Project (ARRP). ENTRIX is also working with CFI to explore opportunities to develop a dry season flow enhancement system for the Peace River, which is a regional water supply source.

ENTRIX has developed a reclaimed water plan that included a feasibility analysis of a number of wetland treatment and utilization options for reclaimed water that may be supplied to CFI by municipalities in the region.

The ENTRIX Economics Group is working with CFI to develop a dollar-based quantification of environmental resources and post-reclamation land use opportunities for CFI and Hardee County.

ENTRIX has compiled, reviewed and analyzed all lands owned by CFI that have current or expired agriculture Water Use Permits associated with them to determine compliance with Southwest Florida Water Management District rules. In addition to determining compliance status, ENTRIX has developed a regulatory strategy to reinstate expired agriculture Water Use Permits into CFI’s control and modify existing permits to minimize impacts while maximizing yields. ENTRIX has developed a plan to transition agriculture groundwater quantities to a potential public supply wellfield via the Southwest Florida Water Management District land use transition process. In order to support the water use planning, ENTRIX developed groundwater flow models designed to assess the impact of the various water use planning proposals to adjacent legal water users, environmental features, and Minimum Flows and Levels (MFLs).