by David Chapman
Staff Writer
Let the legal recourse begin.
In response to a permit request by Seminole County that would allow the withdrawal of 5.5 million gallons of water a day from the St. Johns River to be used for irrigation, St. Johns Riverkeeper and the City of Jacksonville both filed administrative hearings to challenge the permit before a Tuesday deadline.
If the hearing is accepted by the Division of Administrative Hearings in Tallahassee (and they almost always are, said Susie Wiles, the mayor’s communication chief), it would mean the permit is effectively shelved for the moment.
“It has the practical effect of slowing it (the Seminole County permit) down for 18 months or so, on average,” said Wiles. “Mayor (John) Peyton and the City want more information on the science behind what water withdrawal would mean for The St. Johns River.”
“We’re not on different sides of the issue here for once,” said Riverkeeper Attorney Michael Howle.
Howle said he could see the issue at most being shelved by all the administrative hearings for seven to nine months.
Both the St. Johns County Commission and Clay County Commission were expected to file similar administrative hearings to challenge the issue.
In addition, St. Johns Riverkeeper officials announced Tuesday that along with filing an administrative hearing, the group had joined the Public Trust Environmental Law Institute of Florida to pursue other legal action that could potentially derail any future permits from being acted upon by the St. Johns River Water Management District until proper studies are completed.
Riverkeeper and Public Trust notified the Water Management District and the Department of Environmental Protection of their intent to seek an injunction that would cease the granting of any consumptive use permits involving the St. Johns or Ocklawaha rivers and cease any “assurances” to Central Florida municipalities that such permits will be awarded until proof that legal requirements of issuing such permits had been met.
“We could not take the chance that the Governing Board would do the right thing and deny this permit,” said Riverkeeper Neil Armingeon, referring to what would have been a March 11 agenda item on the permit by the District’s Governing Board. “We need to try and nip this in the bud and put an end to these withdrawal proposals now before the flood gates open.”
The District now has 30 days to resolve the Riverkeeper/Public Trust grievance before a complaint could be filed in circuit court. Howle said he doesn’t see the District conceding the point within the time frame, but seeking an injunction was a necessary decision.
“That was a no-brainer for us,” said Howle. “It’s an issue that’s been very troubling.”
The extra time the administrative hearings on the Seminole County permit would allow would also let the City plan a further course of action to study how potential river withdrawals would affect Northeast Florida.
One potential attempt is a now-deferred bill sponsored by Council member Bill Bishop that was vetted during Monday’s Finance Committee meeting.
If passed, legislation would provide $100,000 from the Environmental Protection Board Trust Fund for Jacksonville University to conduct a study of river water withdrawal effects, separate from the study being completed by the Water Management District.
The bill was ultimately deferred by the committee because it wasn’t also assigned to the Rules Committee, which is necessary when a bill has a waiver stipulation. In this case, the waiver was to award the $100,000 to JU without a request for proposals.
However, such an effort was applauded by Riverkeeper Neil Armingeon.
“We’re very appreciative of the City taking this step,” said Armingeon. “We don’t trust the District’s science. We think it’s driven by politics.”
With all the administrative hearings filed, injunctions sought, bills proposed and potential lawsuits in the making, the Seminole County permit is just the tip of the iceberg in the battle to prevent St. Johns River water withdrawals.
“No matter what happens, someone is going to do something in response,” said Wiles. “We’ve got a long road ahead of us.”