St. Johns River Water Management District

News Release

nr09-025

Governing Board approves Seminole County permit

PALATKA, Fla., April 13, 2009 - Following the recommended order of a Florida administrative law judge and the recommendation of St. Johns River Water Management District staff, the District's Governing Board today in a 5-4 vote approved a consumptive use permit for Seminole County to withdraw surface water from the St. Johns River for public supply and reclaimed water supply augmentation.

Before voting to issue the permit, the Board heard from the involved parties - including the St. Johns Riverkeeper, the city of Jacksonville and St. Johns County, who filed the legal petitions opposing the permit that led to the administrative hearing - and from many members of the public.

Seminole County had submitted a permit application in 2004 requesting a 20-year permit to withdraw 7.25 million gallons of water per day (mgd). Today, the Board approved a permit for Seminole County to withdraw up to 5.5 mgd (on an average annual basis), which includes:

• Up to 1 mgd to augment its reclaimed water system by maximizing overall reuse of available reclaimed water in place of higher-quality groundwater
• Up to 4.5 mgd starting in 2014 to supplement potable groundwater supplies that are approaching environmentally sustainable limits, as determined in recently adopted District rules for central Florida

District staff in March 2008 recommended that the Board approve the 5.5 mgd allocation (as approved today), but the permit application was referred to the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings when the petitions by the Riverkeeper, the city of Jacksonville and St. Johns County were filed in March 2008. The hearing was held in October 2008 and the administrative law judge issued his recommended order in January 2009. In his recommended order, the judge noted that:

• The reduction in river stage will be indistinguishable.
• The increase in salinity would be so small as to be immeasurable.
• The withdrawal will not cause or contribute to a violation of state water quality standards in receiving waters.

"District staff spent more than three years evaluating the potential impacts of this withdrawal and recommended the permit be issued," said Governing Board Chairman Susan Hughes. "An impartial administrative law judge then heard both sides of the issue in a hearing, and he also recommended approval of the permit. The District's Governing Board, like many people throughout the region, is committed to protecting the St. Johns River, and it was the Board's determination, as it was for District staff and the administrative law judge, that this withdrawal will not cause detrimental impacts to the river."

Additional information is available at www.sjrwmd.com/facts/SeminoleCountypermit.html.

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