The Governing Board designates the following areas as Water
Resource Caution Areas. Designated Water Resource Caution Areas within the
District are identified in Figures 2-2 and 2-3.
(1) Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, and Walton
Counties.
The District has determined that the coastal area of Santa
Rosa, Okaloosa, and Walton counties has limited potable water resources, are
experiencing increasing water use demands and significant reductions in
groundwater levels, and will potentially have to use advanced treatment
technology, or the importation of water to meet future demands. To address the
expanding demands and continued depletion of the area's limited potable water
resources, the Board hereby declares the area south of the Eglin Air Force Base
in Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, and Walton counties, also the area extending south of
SR-20 to the Bay County Line in Walton County, as a Water Resource Caution Area
(See Figure 2-2). By means of this designation the following criteria are
stipulated:
(a) An Individual Water
Use Permit is required for all non-exempt groundwater withdrawals that are not
granted a General Water Use Permit by rule in subsection
40A-2.061(6) or
(7), F.A.C. The only exempt withdrawals are
those designated in Rule
40A-2.051, F.A.C.;
(b) New and expanded uses of the Floridan
Aquifer System for golf course, recreation, or landscape irrigation, or other
non-potable uses, are determined not to be consistent with the public interest
and are prohibited by the Board. However, the Governing Board shall consider
the granting of an exemption to provide for the issuance of an Individual Water
Use Permit if the following conditions are met:
1. A written exemption request is submitted
as part of the permit application;
2. The use of reclaimed water is determined
not to be economically, environmentally or technically feasible;
3. A commitment is provided by the applicant
to utilize reclaimed water when determined feasible and to abandon and plug any
Floridan Aquifer System well(s) at the time reclaimed water is
utilized;
4. Hydrological data is
submitted which demonstrates that no other source of ground or surface water
can be utilized for the proposed use;
5. Water of the lowest acceptable quality
available will be utilized for the proposed use;
6. Water conservation measures are identified
that will be implemented at the time of authorization, and over the duration of
the permit, to encourage and promote water conservation and efficiency in the
use of the area's water resources (conservation measures shall specifically
provide for the reduction of irrigation water uses when applicable);
7. An undue economic hardship will threaten
the livelihood of the applicant if the exemption request is not granted or if
the applicant has to obtain water from a public water supply system;
and
8. The request is determined
reasonable-beneficial, and in the public interest and will not interfere with
any existing legal uses.
(c) As authorized by Section
373.219, F.S., to ensure water
use is consistent with the overall objectives of the District, permits granted
to public water supply utilities within the Water Resource Caution Area shall
be conditioned to require the submittal of water conservation plans, programs,
and measures which shall be evaluated on their effectiveness to reduce water
use demand and promote the efficient use of the area's water supplies.
1. The plans, programs, and measures will be
reviewed specifically for standards and implementation schedules intended to
reduce annual average residential per capita water consumption to 110 gallons
per day through such actions as adoption of water conservation-based rate
structures, reduction of leaks to 10 percent or less of the water withdrawn,
implementation of water conservation public education programs, etc.
2. Water conservation plans, programs, and
measures developed by local governments operating water supply utilities will
also be reviewed to determine if a Florida-friendly landscape ordinance meeting
the requirements of Sections
373.185(2)(a)-(f),
F.S., and an ordinance requiring the installation of a rain/moisture sensor
cutoff device on automatic irrigation systems pursuant to Section
373.62, F.S., have been
adopted.
3. Utilities operating
wastewater treatment plants shall include in the plan an analysis of the
economic, environmental, and technical feasibility of providing reclaimed water
for reuse within five years and of providing total reuse of reclaimed water
within 20 years.
(d)
Public water supply systems shall be required to actively participate and aid
in the implementation of the goals and plans of the Walton-Okaloosa-Santa Rosa
Regional Utility Authority.
(e)
Golf course and industrial users which withdraw water from the Floridan Aquifer
System shall be required to develop, adopt, and implement water conservation
plans and measures to encourage and promote water conservation and efficiency
in the use of the area's water supplies, and to utilize reclaimed water if
determined to be economically, environmentally, and technically
feasible.
(2) Upper
Telogia Creek Drainage Basin, Gadsden County.
The District has determined that areas of Gadsden County have
experienced reductions in water supplies and have experienced continued
competition for the available water resources. Water use within portions of the
County, if not properly managed, has the potential of negatively impacting the
water resources, the economic base, and the agricultural industry of the
County; as well as, public supply and domestic well users. To provide for the
comprehensive management of the water supplies within a portion of Gadsden
County, the Board hereby declares the Upper Telogia Creek Drainage Basin
located within Gadsden County, Florida, as determined by United States
Geological Survey 7.5 Minute Topographic Maps named, "Gretna", "Sycamore, " and
"Mt. Pleasant", a Water Resource Caution Area (Figure 2-3). By means of this
designation the following criteria are stipulated:
(a) An Individual Water Use Permit is
required for all non-exempt groundwater withdrawals that are not granted a
General Water Use Permit by rule in subsection
40A-2.061(5),
F.A.C. The only exempt withdrawals are those designated by Rule
40A-2.051, F.A.C.;
(b) As authorized by Section
373.219, F.S., to ensure water
use is consistent with the overall objectives of the District, permits granted
to public water supply utilities within the Water Resource Caution Area shall
be conditioned to require the submittal of water conservation plans, programs,
and measures which shall be evaluated on their effectiveness to reduce water
use demands and promote water reuse and the efficient use of the area's water
supplies. Utilities which are presently treating wastewater, or which will
treat wastewater in the future, shall include in the plan an analysis of the
economic, environmental and technical feasibility of providing reclaimed water
for reuse within five years, and of providing total reuse of reclaimed water
within 20 years; and
(d) Golf
course and industrial users which shall be required to develop, adopt, and
implement water conservation plans and measures to encourage and promote water
conservation and efficiency in the use of the area's water supplies, and to
utilize reclaimed water if it is determined to be economically,
environmentally, and technically feasible.
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