St. Johns Water Management District green-lights Yankee Lake project with 5-4 vote

BEACON PHOTO/PAT HATFIELD
Sorrowful but determined — St. Johns Riverkeeper Neil Armingeon takes in the approval of Seminole County's plan to tap water from St. Johns River at a Water Management District hearing in Palatka Monday. He said he will continue efforts to stop the project at Yankee Lake, which he said will damage the fragile river.

BEACON PHOTO/PAT HATFIELD
West Volusians speak up — Mark Johns, in orange shirt, Raymond Johns and Randall Johns of the DeLand area let the St. Johns Water Management District know what they think about plans to tap the St. Johns River. They attended a special hearing of the Water Management executive board in Palatka Monday. So did many other individuals, and members of 60 organizations — around 300 people, in all.

BEACON PHOTO/PAT HATFIELD
Leave my river alone — Audience members at a St. Johns River Water Management District hearing in Palatka protest plans to draw water from the St. Johns River to water lawns and supply tap water to Seminole County.

By Pat Hatfield
BEACON STAFF WRITER

posted Apr 14, 2009 - 1:15:50am

The vote came after seven hours of arguments and public comments Monday at the St. Johns River Water Management District headquarters in Palatka. Suspense mounted as the nine members of the St. Johns River Water Management District Governing Board weighed in with their votes.

At the end, the vote was 5-4 to approve Seminole County's plan to take an average of 5.5 million gallons of water (mgd) a day from the St. Johns River at its Yankee Lake facility. Initial withdrawals will be used to supplement reclaimed water for irrigation. Later, up to 55 mgd is planned, much of it for drinking and watering purpose.

Opponents said the plant will ruin the river, lowering water levels and increasing salt levels, to keep lawns and golf courses green.

Board Chairwoman Susan Hughes said alternative water sources are "absolutely" what are required. She called the vote "the toughest thing."

It's not just a Water Management District issue, Hughes said, but a legislative one. Water use will increase unless construction and development decrease, and that would take decisions by state bodies.

"What we're hearing today is, conservation needs to be a heck of a lot stronger than it is today," Hughes said.

Member David Graham's questions and comments during the hearing seemed pointed to a vote in favor of the project, and that's how he voted.

Graham said he was convinced the withdrawals would do no harm to the river.

"People think I'm an enemy of the river," he said. "I love the river. I live on the river. I grew up on the river. I want to be able to swim on the river."

Board Member Hersey Huffman, who lives near the river in Enterprise, said he thought he would have two years to make the decision, after a study of the river's flows and levels is completed. He wasn't comfortable with voting on the project now, he said, and voted no.

St. Johns Riverkeeper Neil Armingeon and other conservationists castigated the Water Management District board for its vote.

"This agency failed the public ... We're extremely disappointed," he said. "It's clear the only way this river will be defended is through public action."

Armingeon vowed to keep up the battle to stop drawing from the river to satisfy municipal water needs. The Riverkeeper legal team will meet this week to plan its strategy, Armingeon said.

The vote was the second blow for the watchdog organization. In October, an administrative-law judge sided with Seminole County and the Water Management District, recommending approval of the plan. The City of Jacksonville and St. Johns County had joined the Riverkeeper in filing legal objections to the plan that led to the hearing before a state administrative judge, and also continued the battle before the Water Management District board.

St. Johns River County Commissioner Cyndi Stevenson called the plan "the proverbial camel's nose under the tent," or just the beginning of pulling water from the river to satisfy the thirst of local municipalities.

Ormond Beach conservationist Eric West said, "There's no excuse for making this decision to permit this plant, when Seminole County wastes so much water."

The county's lack of conservation measures was a subject of contention by a number of people who objected to the plan.

The Water Management District said municipalities will not be able to increase their draw of water from wells deep into the aquifer after 2013, and will need to find alternative water sources — 200 million gallons a day more — by 2025. Water from the river is one of those sources.

Desalinated ocean water is another source, proposed by Flagler County. Its Coquina Coast project is still in the talking stage.

Read more about Monday's meeting here.

— pat@beacononlinenews.com

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