St. Johns River Water Management District

News Release

nr09-045

Board strengthens commitment to water conservation and delays river water withdrawal project funding

PALATKA, Fla., July 14, 2009 - As part of adopting a tentative budget today, the St. Johns River Water Management District's Governing Board strengthened the agency's commitment to water conservation and delayed funding allocations for construction of river water withdrawal projects until the completion of environmental protection studies on the St. Johns and Ocklawaha rivers.

"The Board and staff have received the message from the public that increased water conservation efforts need to occur as we further explore the development of alternative water supply sources," said Board Chairwoman Susan N. Hughes of Ponte Vedra. "We also feel it is prudent to complete the various environmental studies that are under way on the St. Johns and Ocklawaha rivers, as well as the preliminary design studies on proposed projects, before additional construction funding is allocated."

The Board today approved a tentative $284.48 million budget with a 0.4158 millage rate for the 2009-2010 fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. Two public hearings will be held prior to final budget adoption in September.

The tentative budget includes $9.8 million for water conservation and demand management efforts, and establishes a reserve fund of more than $4 million for future water conservation projects. The District is developing a comprehensive program that could include:

• Establishing aggressive water conservation goals for public supply, agricultural and industrial water users.
• Incorporating aggressive water conservation goals into the 2010 District Water Supply Plan.
• Undertaking rule changes that could require permit holders to implement additional water conservation measures.
• Initiating a water conservation cost-sharing program to help fund implementation of new technologies that will reduce landscape irrigation.

"Increasing water conservation may defer the need for more expensive and challenging alternative water supply solutions," Hughes said. "While water conservation alone won't solve all of our future water supply problems, it will have a direct bearing on the size, scope and timing of alternative water supply projects that will ultimately need to be developed."

In the FY 2009-2010 tentative budget, no new construction funding is allocated to proposed river water withdrawal projects. During FY 2009-2010, the District will focus on the following initiatives:

• Complete the three-year $2 million St. Johns River Water Supply Impact Study that is examining the potential ecological impacts of river water withdrawals, along with other possible scenarios such as river dredging in Jacksonville and sea level rise.
• Complete the 2010 District Water Supply Plan, including revising projected water demands to reflect the recent slowdown in the state's population growth.
• Follow through with commitments to assist water utilities in completing alternative water supply project preliminary design reports.

"It is a fiscally good decision to complete the District's St. Johns River Water Supply Impact Study before we commit funding to construction of river water withdrawal projects," said Governing Board member Hans G. Tanzler III of Jacksonville, who is chairman of the Board's Finance, Administration and Audit Committee. "With the economic slowdown, projected water demands may be less than expected, which may give us more time in many areas to improve conservation and to further enhance available scientific data and analysis."

The District remains committed to ensuring the availability of enough water to meet future needs, which will require increased conservation, development of diversified sources and ensuring the environmental protection of all sources of water. Planning activities to meet these needs will continue and will be refined to reflect new information as it becomes available.

For more information and comments from Board members, visit the District's Web site at www.sjrwmd.com/boardnews .

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