by David Ball
Staff Writer
The growing controversy surrounding proposed plans to draw more than 260 million gallons of water a day from the St. Johns River and a tributary, the Ocklawaha River, finally reached the City Council on Tuesday.
Last night, the Council voted to approve an emergency resolution sponsored by Council members Jay Jabour and Warren Jones to oppose any such proposals and encourage the St. Johns River Water Management District, which would permit the water siphoning, to consider alternatives to feed the growing demands of Central Florida.
Even before the meeting, Council member Bill Bishop, chair of the Jacksonville Waterways Commission, met with Council President Daniel Davis to apprise him of the situation. Also present were Council members Jabour and Jack Webb and State Rep. Dick Kravitz.
Providing some of the specifics, including a time line of when these projects could come online, were St. Johns Riverkeeper Neil Armingeon and Geoffrey Sample, intergovernmental coordinator for the Water Management District.
When Davis learned that Central Florida utilities could be only a few years away from drawing water from the St. Johns, he said it’s time for the city to act.
“This is a lot quicker than I thought it was going to be,” said Davis. “I think we need to get to the board level. That’s the area we need to be.”
Davis said Bishop and the Waterways Commission should open dialogues with Mayor John Peyton’s office, JEA, state legislators, the governor and the board of directors for the Water Management District.
Armingeon, who earlier this month led a meeting about the water supply issue that drew only one Council member, Don Redman, and no one from the Mayor’s office, said it was encouraging to see some City officials stepping up to the table.
“We’re happy that the Council is taking some action. It’s encouraging,” said Armingeon. “The resolution is a good first step, and it goes to what we’ve been saying about the need for the District to explore other alternatives before depleting an important natural resource.”
District officials have stated that as much as two more years of research is needed before surface water withdrawal projects begin the permitting process. However, Armingeon told the full Council that utilities are already beginning to plan for the year 2013, when the District estimates Central Florida Counties can no longer draw potable water from underground reservoirs.
One project, at the Taylor Creek Reservoir in Orange and Osceola counties, is already being designed for up to a $215 million plant that will pipe as much as 40 million gallons a day from the St. Johns River into the reservoir for residents of Cocoa Beach, Melbourne, Orlando and other Central Florida cities.
The Council resolution takes issue with the fact that of the counties planned to receive the withdrawn surface water, only Volusia County has a mandatory water conservation program.
However, Bishop pointed out that Duval County officials should be careful before criticizing the lack of water planning of other counties.
“They are using 100 percent of their re-use water, where we are using some 5 to 7 percent,” said Bishop. “We need to look at this, so we can demonstrate to the rest of the state that we are doing our part. If we don’t do that, that’s when we open ourselves up to criticism.”
Peyton’s Policy Chief, Adam Hollingsworth, told the Council he would likely be proposing legislation enacting water restrictions and other measures.
In front of the full Council, Davis reiterated his surprise that he, like many residents of Northeast Florida, was unaware of how serious the situation really is.
“I thought this was a pie in the sky idea, but this is real,” he said. “This is very serious and could affect our quality of life and our natural resources.”