St. Johns River Water Management District

News Release

nr09-024

Public meeting on District Water Supply Plan is April 6

PALATKA, Fla., March 26, 2009 - A public workshop will be held April 6 to present proposed amendments to the St. Johns River Water Management District's 2005 Water Supply Plan (DWSP 2005).

The workshop will be held from 10 a.m. to noon at District headquarters, Governing Board room, 4049 Reid St., Palatka.

The District updates its water supply plan every five years, identifying strategies in each update to assure that adequate and sustainable water supply is available to meet projected future water needs through a 20-year horizon without causing unacceptable impacts. Amendments can be made to the water supply plan to revise or incorporate new strategies and projects prior to the 5-year updates.

The District is currently operating under the DWSP 2005, which the District's Governing Board approved on Feb. 7, 2006. The plan was amended on Oct. 10, 2006, to incorporate additional potential alternative water supply project options to help meet future water supply needs (First Addendum). The plan again was amended on Dec. 11, 2007, to increase the quantity of production and cost of construction of a brackish groundwater project in Ormond Beach (Second Addendum). The plan was amended a third time on May 13, 2008, to add new potential alternative water supply projects to the project options list (Third Addendum).

The proposed Fourth Addendum that will be the focus of the April 6 workshop enhances the water conservation component of DWSP 2005 and adds additional information concerning reclaimed water to expand the description of the role of water conservation and the use of reclaimed water in meeting projected water demands. The proposed addendum removes four water supply development projects, identifies 16 completed water supply development projects, refines descriptions of water supply development projects, and adds recommendations related to water conservation and reuse.

The draft Fourth Addendum is available on the District's Web site at www.sjrwmd.com/dwsp.html.

Staff anticipate taking the final draft Fourth Addendum to the District's Governing Board for consideration on May 12.

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