Owner: Tampa Bay Water Authority, Clearwater, Fla.
Location: Lithia, Fla.
Cost: $146 million
Construction Manager: Construction Dynamics Group, Tampa
Contractor: Barnard Construction Co., Bozeman, Mont.
Architect/Engineer: HDR Engineering, Tampa

The purpose of the C.W. "Bill" Young Regional Reservoir is to store water during the high river flows during the rainy season and save it for use during the dry season, thus minimizing the need for groundwater extraction.

Water is withdrawn from the Alafia River, the Hillsborough River and the Tampa Bypass Canal and is pumped through approximately 10 mi. of 84-in.-diameter pipe. The usable storage of water is 15 billion gallons, or 58 million cu. meters.

The reservoir is "aboveground" and "off-stream," with a containment structure consisting of an earthen embankment with 3:1 slopes. The reservoir occupies an area of 1100 acres, has a perimeter of 26,000 ft. and extends 7,000 ft. in the east-west direction and 9,000 ft. in the north-south direction.

Height elevations of the embankment vary from 32 to 75 ft. Material for the embankment was extracted from the interior of the reservoir.

The reservoir features a geomembrane liner, which is connected to a soil-bentonite cutoff wall to reach impervious strata. The liner is then covered with soil and a 16-in.-thick soil-cement mix on top of that.

Construction started in June 2002 and completed in March 2005.