from staff
The St. Johns River Water Management District’s Governing Board voted Tuesday to start a process to amend the agency’s rules to include water conservation requirements in its Environmental Resource Permitting Program and to require a consolidated process when new projects need both an environmental resource permit and a consumptive use permit.
Under the proposed rule changes, applicants for environmental resource permits for projects that include irrigated landscape, golf courses or recreational areas would be required to develop and implement a water conservation plan.
The water conservation plan would include a water conservation-based irrigation plan, which would:
• Require separate irrigation zones for turf and non-turf areas.
• Limit use of high volume irrigation to no more than 60 percent of the landscaped area on a residential or commercial lot.
• Require measures to increase the efficiency of irrigation systems.
Applicants also would need to design irrigation systems to use lower quality sources of water, such as reclaimed water and stormwater when feasible, and specific requirements would need to be met for projects with wet detention ponds as part of the stormwater management system.
The proposed rule also would require that property owners’ associations enforce water conservation plans and that covenants and restrictions would not restrict the use of Florida-friendly landscaping.
The District also is proposing a rule change to consolidate processing of permit applications for environmental resource permit applicants who will also require a consumptive use permit for irrigation.
The board’s vote authorized staff to publish a “Notice of Proposed Rule Development” to begin the process to amend the District’s environmental resource permit rule.
For more information about the proposed rule amendments, visit www.floridaswater.com/meetings, and click on item 24 in the July 13 meeting agenda.