The Florida Governmental Utility Authority was formed in 1999 through an interlocal agreement between Brevard, Lee, Polk and Sarasota counties. These four local governments desired to make the best use of their common responsibilities to acquire, own, improve, operate and maintain water and wastewater facilities.

By forming the FGUA, these counties used resource sharing to provide drinking and wastewater service to their citizens at a lower cost and with more local management. Since 1999, the counties making up the FGUA have changed. Today, the FGUA has over 98 systems in 14 counties across Florida. As of 2020, the FGUA provides service to approximately 120,000 customer connections.