by David Ball
Staff Writer
The St. Johns River Water Management District recently released the latest draft version of the District Water Supply Plan, a list of potential projects that could help meet the growing water needs of the 18 Florida counties within the District’s boundaries.
Overall, 80 projects from desalination to water reuse to controversial surface water withdrawal systems are identified that could potentially add 734 million gallons of water a day to counties and utilities along the northern half of Florida’s east coast. The projected costs — more than $5.38 billion, not including operation and maintenance.
None of the projects are in Duval County, but many could impact a chief local resource in the St. Johns River. Some projects are already moving forward, and the latest addendum to the plan released this week adds another 20 projects, including six that would drain water from the St. Johns River.
But adding a project to the list doesn’t mean it’s going to be built, according to Alfred Canepa, District assistant director of resource management. He said it mostly has to do with state and District funding, which is only available to projects in the Water Supply Plan. Last year, about $30 million was available.
“From time to time, we have some projects that come up that we would like to consider to have in the plan and perhaps consider for future funding,” said Canepa. “This is not the major rewrite of the plan, which is what we’re doing right now where we project (water needs) to 2030. That will be available late this year or early next year.”
Canepa added that many of the projects are just conceptual, although the District has done at least some preliminary research into the viability of any project that ends up in the plan. Project developers would still have to do the necessary design, environmental studies and apply for District permitting, all of which would likely take more than three years.
However, the District writes the Water Supply Plan “is essential in...efforts to develop technical assistance documents for local governments to use in updating their comprehensive plans to address water supply issues, including the identification of alternative and traditional water supply projects.”
One of the new projects listed in the latest draft is a plant near Yankee Lake in Seminole County that could withdraw up to 86 million gallons of potable water a day from the St. Johns River. The District identified 17 municipalities, utilities and other entities that could utilize the project.
A project at Yankee Lake to supplement reuse water with 5.5 million gallons a day of St. Johns water was already in the plan. But when the District was about to grant a permit to Seminole County, several entities including the St. Johns Riverkeeper and the City of Jacksonville legally challenged and stalled the decision until the case can be heard before an administrative law judge in Tallahassee.
Riverkeeper Neil Armingeon, who helped spur recent concerns in Northeast Florida over how the withdrawals would affect the health of the lower St. Johns, said the District is wrongly compelling thirsty counties to look to these withdrawal projects.
“Elected officials are looking to the District to give them options, and the District is telling them these are the options in the (water) plan,” said Armingeon. “Then they start planning for these projects. And isn’t it kind of presumptive to begin planning these before this 24-month study is complete?”
The District has promised a 24-month study into the environmental effects of withdrawal from the St. Johns, particularly risk of increased salinity and higher nutrient concentrations near the mouth of the river. However, Armingeon said last Friday the District held a meeting with Central Florida officials to discuss which of five planned withdrawal projects they should align themselves with.
“It’s almost like the counties and utilities are forced into these situations because of funding and what the District tells them,” said Armingeon.
The five projects have a combined possible withdrawal load of 293 million gallons a day — more than the 255 million gallons a day the District has stated can be safely withdrawn from the St. Johns. When all the surface water projects in the Water Supply Plan are added, they total more than 411 million gallons a day.
The District is holding a public hearing Thursday at its headquarters in Palatka to discuss the recent plan addendum and funding for a desalination plant in Flagler County and a water supply project in St. Johns County. District staff anticipates taking the final draft of the addendum and the funding proposals to its Board of Governors on May 13. A copy of the recent addendum is available at www.sjrwmd.com/dwsp.html.