Judge sides with Seminole County on tapping St. Johns River

By Pat Hatfield
BEACON STAFF WRITER

posted Jan 14, 2009 - 8:59:49am

Seminole County won a round in the battle over taking water from the St. Johns River, when state Administrative Judge J. Lawrence Johnston ruled in the county's favor recently.

Johnston recommended approval of Seminole County's plan to pull 5.5 million gallons of water per day from the river at its Yankee Lake treatment plant near Sanford.

The St. Johns Riverkeeper, St. Johns County and the City of Jacksonville challenged the St. Johns River Water Management District's plan to grant Seminole County a permit to withdraw the water.

Florida's Water Management Districts regulate withdrawals of water from rivers and the aquifer.

Both sides presented their cases during hearings before the judge in October.

Seminole County Director of Environmental Services Dr. John Cirello said the daily 5.5 million gallons, a fifth of it to be used for irrigation, is a fairly small amount.

"The permit has a very narrow focus with a request of up to 5.5 million gallons of water from the river — roughly one quarter of 1 percent of flow at the place we’re proposing the withdrawal — an immeasurable amount," said Cirello, who is heading up construction of Yankee Lake.

The average flow of the St. Johns River past Sanford is around 1.9 billion gallons a day.

Cirello said Seminole County is committed to protecting the river.

A press release written by Seminole County's public-relations firm, H.F. Rand, stated, "Seminole County has called on St. Johns County and the City of Jacksonville to work cooperatively to reach agreement on protecting the river, given the grave economic climate and the cost of government suing government. Further, we ask that the St. Johns Riverkeeper pledge to allow us to address any remaining concerns they may have and to acknowledge the hearing officer’s finding that our conservation program is aggressive and effective."

St. Johns Riverkeeper Neil Armingeon told The Beacon he hadn't heard from Seminole County yet. He vowed to continue the fight.

"We presented a good case that demonstrated that Seminole County didn't need to take water from the river," Armingeon said.

The next round, he said, will be at the Water Management District's headquarters in Palatka, when the district's governing board takes up the matter, most likely in March. Armingeon will issue a call for concerned residents to attend and express their concerns.

"Letting Seminole County take water out of the St. Johns is a bad idea," he said.

Armingeon and the St. Johns Riverkeeper organization have long been opponents of drawing water from the river to treat it for drinking and irrigation. They believe lower water levels, and pollution from the treatment plants, will damage the St. Johns.

Armingeon pointed out the 5.5 million-gallon request is only one phase of Seminole County's plan to eventually withdraw up to 75 million gallons of water from the river daily.

Other communities up and down the St. Johns, including DeLand, are awaiting the outcome of this case, Armingeon noted. They are all looking at alternate sources for water as the aquifer shrinks, and they will hit the maximum-allowed withdrawals from underground in the next few years.

Armingeon said conservation would eliminate the need for Seminole County's current request, which was originally just for irrigation water. He said it was opposition to the plan that led Seminole to change its proposal, designating most of the water now requested for drinking purposes.

"I'm not pointing the finger at Seminole County," Armingeon said, adding that all communities need tougher, enforceable conservation programs. He's happy Jacksonville passed some ordinances "moving toward real enforcement."

"We all have a long way to go. We'll all get there," he said.

Visit the Riverkeeper at http://stjohnsriverkeeper.org, and visit the Riverkeeper's newest Web site http://mystjohnsriver.com with more information, videos and photos of the St. Johns River.

A spokeswoman for Cirello said Seminole County is ready to proceed as soon as the Water Management District grants final approval, and the Yankee Lake project should be complete by 2012.

— pat@beacononlinenews.com

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