DATE:

TO: QrL / t o. r
E S T,
FROM: E.D. VERGARA, Director, Department of interagency Coordination E 961 /
RE: /
SAEM











OCT 12 197

I4 l I C^ ^ o -^

Cct










11 October 1977



I have in my possession proposed designs for the "Cypress Creek" portion

of the Four I-ivers Basin Project. What is the final land configuration? How

much of this land does the Corps, et., al., currently own? How much do you

anticipate having to pay for these lands? What is the cost/benefit ratio?

Are you aware that in sections 9 and 10 of Tampa Downs Ranchettes there have

been several hundred sales in excess of $10,000 per acre? Was or is Judge

Burnside's orange grove property part of your project, since it was not and is

not in the 100 year (or 1) flood plain zone? How much was the Judge paid

for his land per acre? What improvements are located on the Judge's property

today? How was State money used for the purchase of this orange grove property

and the A & Z Holding Company's property? Why did we use an "emergency order"

of taking the land under eminent domain guaranteeing to pay the price settled

on in court no matter how much per acre. How can you figure cost/benefit ratios

with uncertain costs? What enabling legislation puts the State of Florida in

the water supply business? Was the cabinet mislead'purposely in the belief

that they were funding a non-existent joint federal project? With zoning,

subdivision regulations, H.U.D. and Land Sales Board registrations, D.R.I's,

Environmental Impact Statements, areas of critical State concern, Federal

Flood Insurance, for what purpose and is it necessary that the Federal Govern-

ment purchase these lands? Is the Federal Government going to be in the water

supply business? I have repeatedly requested for general design memorandums

and detailed memorandums for the Four River Basin Project and have always

been told they would be ready in from six months to one year. My inquiries

started three years ago. How was land purchased in either the Corps name or

or the State of Florida's name in the past without benefit of data? If we









Page 2 11 October 1977


purchase first and get the data later, do we not prostitute the integrity

of the data by having to justify the purchase after the fact?

Does the Corps know that the Southwest Florida Water Management District

declared much of the Cypress Creek and adjoining areas an emergency water

shortage area approximately six months before purchasing this land with St.

Petersburg, Pinellas, et.,, al,, so the later could extract millions of gallons

per day from a relatively small area of land ownership? This extracted water

ends up in the Gulf of Mexico and Tampa Bay, lost forever, via sanitary sewers,

storm sewers, etc. If one can safely extract ten to thirty million gallons

per day while still in a negative, (below average), yearly rain posture, why

was the area an emergency water shortage area, complete with sprinkling bans

from private wells, a scant six months before? Which time was the Southwest

Florida Water Managenent District in error?

When rains come to the area, daily consumption from the regional well

fields is cut approximately in half, therefore, one half of these millions of

gallons water per day are being used to water geraniums, lawns, wash automobiles,

etc., and are obviously not necessary for human consumption or to sustain life.

The water poachers swore in Judge Williams court the water extracted from

Cypress Creek was necessary to sustain life in their area while simultaneously,

secretly and successfully negotiating to sell ten million gallons per day to

a private utility company in West pasco. Did the Corps swear in Federal Court

in the N.E.P.A. suit of Tampa Downs vs. Army Corps, Southwest Florida Water

Management District, et., al., that there was no federally authorized Four

River Basin Project, just prior to the purchase of the A & Z Holdir.n Corpsany

property and the above referenced Judge's orange grove property? Check the

resolutions and their clever wording from the Board of the Southwest Florida








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Page 3 11 October 1977


Water Management District to the Cabinet of the State of Florida for funding.

Did the State unwittingly fund a non-existent, non-planned federal project?

If Cypress Creek is a State project, is the State of Florida knowingly in the

water supply business? Is the State of Florida unknowingly in the water supply

business? One way or another, they are currently in the water supply business.

Does the Federal Government plan to be in the water supply business in the

future?

Who owns the water under the lands adjoining regional well fields? If

one takes water out in excess of the land's and rainfall's ability to put

back, are you not harvesting or mining the adjoining land's water? Should not

the adjoining land owner by compensated under the Fifth Amendment to the

Constitution?

Since Cypress Creek is a major tributary to the Hillsborough River, what

negative affect will this project have on the water supply for Hillsborough

County and Tampa?

Large water consumers are given volumn discounts, does this encourage

conservation?

Note the article in today's section B, final metro edition of the Tampa

Tribune, where the State required Hillsborough Community College to give back

project monies. Should the same rule apply at Cypress Creek?

The science of hydrology will not give in to political and financial

expediency any more than will oil and gas.

Who will be held responsible for the "Rape of Cypress Creek"?

When will the public be given an explanation or answers to ALL the above

questions? Are these hearings legitimate or a sham? I would personally

appreciate answers to these questions in writing.

Benton R. Murphey
Self-employed Capitalist
15000 Highway 54 West
Zephyrhills, Florida 33599
(813) 949-4271