Nearly a decade of public workshops, water resource analyses, and policy debates culminated this week in approval of the Southern Water Use Caution Area (SWUCA) Recovery Strategy by the Southwest Florida Water Management District Governing Board.
This is an historic moment for the District, the public and the water resources, said Executive Director David L. Moore. Many years of labor and collaboration by Board members, staff, representatives of all the types of water users and the general public went into fashioning this blueprint for restoring and protecting the water resources in the southern part of our District.
SWUCA is a 5,100-square-mile, eight-county area where depressed aquifer levels have caused saltwater to intrude into the aquifer along the coast and contributed to reduced flows in the upper Peace River and lowered lake levels in portions of Polk and Highlands counties. (See accompanying fact sheet.)
The purpose of the Recovery Strategy is to provide a plan for reducing the rate of saltwater intrusion, restoring flows in the upper Peace River and lake levels while ensuring sufficient water supplies and protecting investments of existing water use permittees.
The Strategy has six basic components: conservation, alternative supply development, resource recovery projects, land use transitions, permitting, and monitoring and reporting.
Conservation
Improving how efficiently we use our water resources increases the number of uses that can be met by our limited supplies. The District promotes conservation practices among all user types. For example, the District partners with the Florida Department of Agricultural Services to fund FARMS, a financial incentive program for the agricultural community to install best management practices for irrigation.
Alternative Supply Development
The primary water supply has been groundwater. Developing alternative water supplies from sources such as surface waters, reclaimed water and desalination will reduce demand for stressed groundwater sources while meeting growing water needs.
Promoting conservation and alternative supply development are a continuation of longstanding District programs that, along with the Districts permitting program, have contributed to a trend of declining groundwater use in the SWUCA.
Resource Recovery Projects
In addition to developing new water supplies, the District is implementing resource recovery projects to enhance and restore existing water resources. For example, one project will raise the water level in Lake Hancock (which had been previously lowered through drainage), then release the excess water during the dry season to achieve minimum flows in the upper Peace River. Other projects under consideration include restoring mine lands and wetlands to store more water during wet seasons.
To be successful, these conservation, alternative supply and resource recovery projects require funding. There is a need for about $673 million through the year 2025. The Strategy identifies about $559 million available through various sources, highlighting the need to maintain a budget capable of supporting these projects.
Land Use Transitions
Almost all of the property within the SWUCA has a water use permit associated with it. The trend in land use changes is for urban/suburban land uses to displace non-residential land uses that have depended on groundwater. Along the coastal communities in the SWUCA,
the Strategy anticipates meeting the water needs of these new land uses through alternative supplies, which will help reduce groundwater withdrawals. In the inland counties, where alternative supplies such as surface waters are not as plentiful, it is anticipated that new uses can be met, in part, with groundwater from the displaced non-residential uses.
Permitting
The District permitting program requires water use permit holders to be efficient through conservation measures and to use alternative water sources where they are economically, technology and environmentally practical.
An applicant wanting to pump new quantities from the Floridan aquifer will have to demonstrate that the withdrawal will not impact an area where the water resources have already been designated as below a minimum flow or level (MFL). If the withdrawal would impact an MFL waterbody, the applicant will need to show at least a 10 percent improvement or net benefit to the waterbody. The net benefit can be achieved by showing the new use is actually less than an existing use being retired or displaced, or by participating in a mitigation or resource development project.
Monitoring and Reporting
The District will use an extensive monitoring network to look at actual versus anticipated trends in water levels, flows and saltwater intrusion. Projections of water demands and potential sources will be updated every five years as part of the Regional Water Supply Plan.
The District will also have an ongoing cumulative impact analysis that will look at all factors affecting recovery. This comprehensive monitoring and analysis will allow the Governing Board to make any necessary midcourse corrections and ensure recovery is ultimately achieved.
SWUCA Fact Sheet
*The District’s Governing Board established the Southern Water Use Caution Area (SWUCA) in 1992. A “water use caution area” is designated where water resources are or will become critical in the next 20 years.
*SWUCA encompasses approximately 5,100 square miles, including all of Manatee, Sarasota, Hardee and DeSoto counties and portions of Hillsborough, Charlotte, Polk and Highlands counties.
SWUCA water resource concerns include lowered flows in the upper Peace River, the decline of lake levels along the Ridge Area (portions of Polk and Highlands counties), and advancing coastal saltwater intrusion in the Floridan aquifer.
*The District’s Governing Board approved a SWUCA rule in 1994 following a significant public input process.
*Several parties filed objections to parts of the rule, leading to an administrative hearing. The administrative law judge’s Final Order was issued in March 1997. The Final Order upheld the District’s minimum Floridan aquifer levels and the science used to establish them, along with the phasing in of conservation measures. However, the ruling also found certain provisions invalid, including reallocation and preferential treatment of existing users. The District also withdrew key provisions of the rule, including the minimum level, based upon a settlement agreement that had been reached with agricultural parties.
*A number of parties appealed the ruling to the Second District Court of Appeals.
*In September 2000, the Second District Court of Appeals ruled on the challenges presented to the original SWUCA rules. The Court found in favor of the District on all 13 points on appeal.
*During this lengthy appeals process, the District began a reassessment of the SWUCA resource concerns and management strategies. Major factors to be considered in this re-evaluation included:
o Groundwater permitted quantities and use in the SWUCA had not grown, as had been previously anticipated;
o Groundwater levels had not progressively deteriorated, as had been previously anticipated;
o New legislative provisions were adopted in 1997 giving the District new water supply policy directives, water resource and supply planning and development responsibilities, and guidance for “recovery and prevention strategies” associated with minimum flows and levels.
*In April 1998 the District published the “SWUCA Information Report” in an effort to summarize these recent trends and events.
*A “Conceptual Management Strategy” was approved by the District’s Governing Board in September 1998 for purposes of gaining public input on a revised management approach.
*As part of developing an updated strategy, a SWUCA Work Group was formed to review management approaches outlined in the Conceptual Management Strategy, as well as any alternative approaches which might warrant consideration. Work Group deliberations and public meetings started in October 1998.
*The final Work Group meeting was held September 19, 2005.