Florida Administrative Code › 40 - WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICTS › 40D - Southwest Florida Water Management District › Chapter 40D-80 - - RECOVERY AND PREVENTION STRATEGIES FOR MINIMUM FLOWS AND LEVELS › Section 40D-80.074 - Regulatory Portion of Recovery Strategy for the Southern Water Use Caution Area

Current through Reg. 50, No. 138; July 16, 2024
(1) Background.
Section
				   373.042, F.S., requires the
				  District to establish Minimum Flows and Levels for priority waters within its
				  boundaries. The District has established Minimum Flows and Levels (MFLs) within
				  the Southern Water Use Caution Area (SWUCA), described in subsection
				   40D-2.801(3),
				  F.A.C, which includes all or portions of Hillsborough, Polk, Highlands, Hardee,
				  DeSoto, Manatee, Sarasota, and Charlotte counties. In establishing the MFLs,
				  the District determined that the existing flow rates and water levels of some
				  of the priority waters are below the MFLs established for them. In such
				  circumstances Section
				   373.0421, F.S., requires the
				  District to implement a recovery strategy. The District has developed a
				  recovery strategy that includes both regulatory and non-regulatory mechanisms
				  as described in the SWUCA Recovery Strategy, dated March 2006. The regulatory
				  approach does not make impacts on an MFL water body from permitted quantities
				  existing as of January 1, 2007, a basis for permit denial because the Recovery
				  Strategy taken as a whole is intended to achieve recovery to the established
				  minimum flows and levels as soon as practicable. The Recovery Strategy involves
				  water supply planning, an emphasis on conservation, the development of
				  alternative water supplies to meet growing demands and allows for reductions in
				  existing ground water withdrawals that are impacting water bodies with
				  established MFLs, restoration of water bodies and flow patterns, and the
				  regulation of existing and new water withdrawals. This Rule
				   40D-80.074, F.A.C., describes
				  the regulatory approach of the Recovery Strategy.
(2) Objectives of Recovery Strategy.
Long-term (as defined in the WUP Applicant's Handbook Part B,
				  Section 3.9.2.6.2.1., incorporated by reference in Rule
				   40D-2.091, F.A.C.) flow rates
				  and water levels for most MFL water bodies are below the MFLs predominantly
				  because ground water withdrawals have lowered Floridian aquifer levels in the
				  SWUCA. As a result of the lowered aquifer levels, salt water intrusion is
				  occurring, and river flows and lake levels are impacted by reduced water
				  levels, including some of those rivers and lakes for which MFLs have been
				  established. The goals of the District's Recovery Strategy are the recovery of
				  flows and levels to the MFLs and the provision of sufficient water supplies for
				  all existing and projected reasonable-beneficial uses. The Minimum Flows for
				  rivers are described in Rule
				   40D-8.041, F.A.C. The Minimum
				  Levels for lakes are described in subsection
				   40D-8.624(13),
				  F.A.C. The Minimum Levels for aquifers are described in subsection
				   40D-8.626(2),
				  F.A.C. The District intends to maintain on its website at
www.watermatters.org
a current
				  listing of those water bodies for which a recovery or prevention strategy is in
				  effect.
(3) Recovery
				Strategy Mechanisms.
(a) The non-regulatory
				mechanisms include conservation and water resource development efforts intended
				to increase the availability of alternative water supplies and to enhance the
				water resources of the SWUCA. Conservation, transitions in land use from
				agricultural to other use or changes in supply source, and the availability of
				alternative water supplies will help meet growing water demands in the SWUCA,
				and will also allow for reductions in ground water withdrawals.
(b) The guiding principles for the regulatory
				portion of the Recovery Strategy are that it should:
1. Contribute significantly to resource
				management and recovery;
2. Protect
				the investments of existing water use permit holders; and,
3. Allow for economic expansion and new
				economic activities in the SWUCA.
In addition, the District recognizes that the water resources
				  in the SWUCA are subject to varying degrees of stress. The regulatory component
				  of the Recovery Strategy has been designed in recognition of these variations.
				  How water use permit applications will be affected by the regulatory mechanisms
				  will vary depending on the resource conditions in the area affected by a
				  proposed withdrawal and the extent to which the withdrawals will contribute to
				  these resource conditions. For example, the regulatory mechanisms continue the
				  existing "Most Impacted Area" (MIA) designation in coastal portions of southern
				  Hillsborough, Manatee and northern Sarasota counties. The Salt Water Intrusion
				  Minimum Aquifer Level is established within the MIA. New ground water
				  withdrawals within the MIA and the area surrounding the MIA that impact salt
				  water intrusion will be affected more by the MIA designation and the Salt Water
				  Intrusion Minimum Aquifer Level, than will permit applications for new ground
				  water withdrawals in the eastern portions of the SWUCA. Conversely, permit
				  applications for new ground water withdrawals in the coastal areas will be much
				  less affected by the MFLs established for the upper Peace River and the
				  priority lakes in Polk and Highlands counties than permit applications for new
				  ground water withdrawals on the Lake Wales Ridge.
(c) The water use permitting rules in Chapter
				40D-2, F.A.C., address water conservation, alternative water supplies and
				recovery to MFLs. These water conservation and alternative water supplies rules
				include the amendments to Chapter 40D-2, F.A.C., November 15, 1990, January 1,
				2003, as well as subsequent rules adopted as of January 1, 2007, developed in
				conjunction with the implementation of the Minimum Flows and Levels Recovery
				Strategy. In combination, these rules result in more efficient use of water and
				a lessening of impacts from withdrawals on water bodies with established
				MFLs.