When used in this chapter and in the review of rules of the
Districts pursuant to Section
373.114(2),
F.S., unless the context or content of such District rule requires a narrower,
more specific meaning, the following words shall mean:
(1) "Aquifer" shall mean a geologic
formation, group of formations, or part of a formation that contains sufficient
saturated permeable material to yield useful quantities of ground water to
wells, springs or surface water.
(2) "Basin Management Action Plan" means the
document that sets forth the activities, schedule, and funding sources by which
point and nonpoint dischargers will reduce pollutants discharged to impaired
waters and meet the total maximum daily load established for those
waters.
(3) "Conservation rate
structure" means a schedule of utility water rates designed to promote
efficient use of water by providing economic incentives.
(4) "Consumptive use means any use of water
which reduces the supply from which it is withdrawn or diverted.
(5) "Department" means the Department of
Environmental Protection.
(6)
"Designated use" means the present and future most beneficial use of a body of
water pursuant to the water quality classification system in Rule
62-302.400, F.A.C.
(7) "Detention" means the delay of stormwater
runoff prior to its discharge.
(8)
"District" means a water management district created pursuant to Section
373.069, F.S.
(9) "District Water Management Plan" is
defined in Section 373.019, F.S.
(10) "Drought rate structure" means an
element of a utility rate structure intended to provide an economic incentive
to reduce water use during times of drought.
(11) "Floodplain" means land area subject to
inundation by flood waters from a river, watercourse, lake, or coastal waters.
Floodplains are delineated according to their estimated frequency of
flooding.
(12) "Florida Water Plan"
is defined in Section
373.019, F.S.
(13) "Governing Board" means the governing
board of a water management district created under Section
373.069, F.S.
(14) "Ground water" means water beneath the
surface of the ground, whether or not flowing through known and definite
channels.
(15) "Ground water basin"
means a ground water flow system that has defined boundaries and may include
permeable materials that are capable of storing or furnishing a significant
water supply. The basin includes both the surface area and the permeable
materials beneath it.
(16) "High
recharge areas" means areas contributing significant volumes of water which add
to the storage and flow of an aquifer through vertical movement from the land
surface. The term significant will vary geographically depending on the
hydrologic characteristics of that aquifer.
(17) "Informative billing" means a system of
providing water utility customers with useful information on the relationship
between the amount of water they use and the cost associated with that use.
Examples of the information include the utility's rate structure, amount of
water used in the current month, amount of water used in the previous month,
amount of water used in the same month of the previous year, information on the
average usage of all customers in the same customer class, seasonal rates and
applicable months, drought rates, information on conserving water, or other
information deemed appropriate by the utility.
(18) "Impact Offset" is defined in Section
373.250, F.S.
(19) "Impaired water" means a water body or
water body segment that does not meet one or more of its designated uses due in
whole or in part to discharges of pollutants, and has been listed as impaired
by order of the Secretary in accordance with the procedures set forth in
Chapter 62-303, F.A.C.
(20)
"Natural systems" for the purpose of this rule means an ecological system
supporting aquatic and wetland-dependent natural resources, including fish and
aquatic and wetland-dependent wildlife habitat.
(21) "Pollutant load reduction goal, " or
PLRG, means estimated numeric reductions in pollutant loadings, usually
established in a Surface Water Improvement and Management or other watershed
management plan, that are needed to preserve or restore designated uses of
receiving bodies of water and maintain water quality consistent with applicable
state water quality standards. In some cases, PLRGs may provide the scientific
basis for the development of a Total Maximum Daily Load.
(22) "Potable quality water offset" means the
amount of potable quality water (Class F-I, G-I, or G-II ground water or water
meeting drinking water standards) saved through the use of reclaimed water
expressed as a percentage of the total reclaimed water used. The potable
quality water offset is calculated by dividing the amount of potable water
saved by the amount of reclaimed water used and multiplying the quotient by
100.
(23) "Prime recharge areas"
means areas that are generally within high recharge areas and are significant
to present and future ground water uses including protection and maintenance of
natural systems and water supply.
(24) "Reasonable-beneficial use" is defined
in Section 373.019, F.S.
(25) "Recharge fraction" means the portion of
reclaimed water used in a reuse system that recharges an underlying potable
quality ground water (Class F-I, G-I, or G-II ground water) that is used for
potable supply, or augments a Class I surface water, expressed as a percentage
of the total reclaimed water used.
(26) "Reclaimed water, " except as
specifically provided in Chapter 62-610, F.A.C., means water that has received
at least secondary treatment and basic disinfection, and is reused after
flowing out of a domestic wastewater treatment facility.
(27) "Regional water supply plan" is defined
in Section 373.019, F.S.
(28) "Retention" means the prevention of
stormwater runoff from direct discharge.
(29) "Reuse" means the deliberate application
of reclaimed water, in compliance with Department and District rules, for a
beneficial purpose.
(30) "Reuse
Utility" means a utility that produces reclaimed water or distributes reclaimed
water to end users.
(31) "Seasonal
rate structure" means a utility water rate structure in which the amount
charged per unit of water increases during the peak demand season.
(32) "Secretary" means the Secretary of the
Department of Environmental Protection.
(33) "State water quality standards" means
water quality standards adopted by the Environmental Regulation Commission
pursuant to Chapter 403, F.S., including standards composed of designated most
beneficial uses (classification of waters), the numerical and narrative
criteria applied to the specific water use or classification, the Florida
anti-degradation policy (Rules
62-4.242 and
62-302.300, F.A.C.), and the
moderating provisions contained in Chapters 62-4, 62-302, 62-520, and 62-550,
F.A.C.
(34) "Stormwater" means the
water that results from a rainfall event.
(35) "Stormwater management program" is
defined in Section 403.031, F.S.
(36) "Stormwater management system" is
defined in Section 373.403, F.S.
(37) "Stormwater recycling" means capturing
stormwater for irrigation or other beneficial use.
(38) "Stormwater utility" is defined in
Section 403.031, F.S.
(39) "Substitution credit" means the use of
reclaimed water to replace all or a portion of an existing permitted use of
resource-limited surface water or groundwater, allowing a different user or use
to initiate a withdrawal or increase its withdrawal from the same
resource-limited surface water or groundwater source provided that the
withdrawal creates no net adverse impact on the limited water resource or
creates a net positive impact if required by district rule as part of a
strategy to protect or recover a water resource.
(40) "Supplementation of a reclaimed water
system" or "supplementation" means the addition of water by a reuse utility
from another source to reclaimed water supplies.
(41) "Surface water" is defined in Section
373.019, F.S.
(42) "Total maximum daily load, " or TMDL, is
defined in Section 403.031, F.S.
(43) "Water resource caution area" means a
geographic area identified by a District as having existing water resource
problems or an area in which water resource problems are projected to develop
during the next twenty years.
(44)
"Water" or "waters in the state" is defined in Section
373.019, F.S.
(45) "Watershed" is defined in Section
373.403, F.S.
(46) "Watershed management goal" means an
overall goal for the management of water resources within a
watershed.