Just when it looked like the three major south Santa Rosa County utilities were at an impasse at dealing with the future of the region's wastewater infrastructure, a solution may be on the horizon. 

Brett Cyphers, executive director of the Northwest Florida Water Management District, said state funding could help all three entities — the Holley-Navarre Water System, Santa Rosa County and the city of Gulf Breeze — get what they need for sustainable wastewater infrastructure. 

"I think all those folks are going to be able to come together," Cyphers said in an interview with the News Journal on Tuesday. 

The plan is for the utilities to apply for a grant with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection that would help the county finish its Eglin RIBS project, which would send the majority of the county's treated wastewater to land leased on Eglin Air Force Base, and also fund an interconnect between the HNWS and Gulf Breeze that would boost the city's reclaimed water use.