1

A bill to be entitled

2

An act relating to the West-Central Florida Water

3

Restoration Action Plan; creating s. 373.0363, F.S.;

4

providing definitions; providing legislative findings

5

and intent; providing criteria governing the

6

implementation of the West-Central Florida Water

7

Restoration Action Plan by the Southwest Florida Water

8

Management District; requiring that the district

9

coordinate with regional water supply authorities and

10

governmental partners to maximize opportunities

11

concerning the efficient expenditure of public funds;

12

specifying the plan's purpose; specifying the

13

initiatives that are included in the plan; providing

14

criteria governing implementation of the Central West

15

Coast Surface Water Enhancement Initiative, the

16

Facilitating Agricultural Resource Management Systems

17

Initiative, the Ridge Lakes Restoration Initiative, the

18

Upper Peace River Watershed Restoration Initiative, and

19

the Central Florida Water Resource Development

20

Initiative and certain components or projects included

21

in such initiatives; providing for the district to

22

implement certain initiatives or parts thereof in

23

cooperation with the Peace River-Manasota Regional Water

24

Supply Authority or Polk County; requiring an annual

25

report that meets specified criteria concerning

26

implementation of the plan, regional conditions, and the

27

use of funds; requiring that the district provide the

28

report and legislative recommendations to the President

29

of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of

30

Representatives; providing an effective date.

31

32

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

33

34

     Section 1.  Section 373.0363, Florida Statutes, is created

35

to read:

36

     373.0363 West-Central Florida Water Restoration Action

37

Plan.--

38

     (1) As used in this section, the term:

39

     (a) "District" means the Southwest Florida Water Management

40

District.

41

     (b) "Southern Water Use Caution Area" means an area that

42

the district designated, after extensive collection of data and

43

numerous studies, in order to comprehensively manage water

44

resources in the Southern West-Central Groundwater Basin, which

45

includes all of Desoto, Hardee, Manatee, and Sarasota Counties

46

and parts of Charlotte, Highlands, Hillsborough, and Polk

47

Counties.

48

     (c) "Southern Water Use Caution Area Recovery Strategy"

49

means the district's planning, regulatory, and financial strategy

50

for ensuring that adequate water supplies are available to meet

51

growing demands while protecting and restoring the water and

52

related natural resources of the area.

53

     (d) "West-Central Florida Water Restoration Action Plan"

54

means the district's regional environmental restoration and

55

water-resource sustainability program for the Southern Water Use

56

Caution Area.

57

     (2) The Legislature finds that:

58

     (a) In response to growing demands from public supply,

59

agriculture, mining, power generation, and recreational users,

60

ground water withdrawals in the Southern Water Use Caution Area

61

have steadily increased for nearly a century before peaking in

62

the mid-1970s. These withdrawals resulted in declines in aquifer

63

levels throughout the groundwater basin, which in some areas

64

exceeded 50 feet.

65

     (b) While ground water withdrawals have since stabilized as

66

a result of the district's management efforts, depressed aquifer

67

levels continue to result in saltwater intrusion, reduced flows

68

in the Upper Peace River, lowered water levels, and adverse water

69

quality impacts for some lakes in the Lake Wales Ridge areas of

70

Polk and Highlands Counties.

71

     (c) In response to these resource concerns, and as directed

72

by s. 373.036, the district determined that traditional sources

73

of water in the region are not adequate to supply water for all

74

existing and projected reasonable and beneficial uses and to

75

sustain the water resources and related natural systems.

76

     (d) The expeditious implementation of the Southern Water

77

Use Caution Area Recovery Strategy is needed to meet the minimum

78

flow requirement for the Upper Peace River, slow saltwater

79

intrusion, provide for improved lake levels and water quality

80

along the Lake Wales Ridge, and ensure sufficient water supplies

81

for all existing and projected reasonable and beneficial uses.

82

     (e) Sufficient research has been conducted and sufficient

83

plans developed to immediately expand and accelerate programs to

84

sustain the water resources and related natural systems in the

85

Southern Water Use Caution Area.

86

     (f) Implementation of components of the Southern Water Use

87

Caution Area Recovery Strategy, which are contained in the West-

88

Central Florida Water Restoration Action Plan, is for the benefit

89

of the public health, safety, and welfare and is in the public

90

interest.

91

     (g) Implementation of the West-Central Florida Water

92

Restoration Action Plan is necessary to meet the minimum flow

93

requirement for the Upper Peace River, slow saltwater intrusion,

94

provide for improved lake levels and water quality along the Lake

95

Wales Ridge, and ensure sufficient water supplies for all

96

existing and projected reasonable and beneficial uses.

97

     (h) A continuing source of funding is needed to effectively

98

implement the West-Central Florida Water Restoration Action Plan.

99

     (3) The district shall implement the West-Central Florida

100

Water Restoration Action Plan in a manner that furthers

101

progressive strategies for the management of water resources, is

102

watershed-based, provides for consideration of water quality

103

issues, and includes monitoring, the development and

104

implementation of best-management practices, and structural and

105

nonstructural projects, including public works projects. The

106

district shall coordinate its implementation of the plan with

107

regional water supply authorities, public and private

108

partnerships, and local, state, and federal partners in order to

109

maximize opportunities for the most efficient and timely

110

expenditures of public funds.

111

     (4) The West-Central Florida Water Restoration Action Plan

112

includes:

113

     (a) The Central West Coast Surface Water Enhancement

114

Initiative. The purpose of this initiative is to make additional

115

surface waters available for public supply through restoration of

116

surface waters, natural water flows, and freshwater wetland

117

communities. This initiative is designed to allow limits on

118

ground water withdrawals in order to slow the rate of saltwater

119

intrusion. The initiative shall be an on-going program in

120

cooperation with the Peace River-Manasota Regional Water Supply

121

Authority created under s. 373.1962. The initiative shall include

122

the following components, if feasible:

123

     1. The Dona Bay-Cow Pen Slough Component. This component is

124

anticipated to increase the capacity to store excess freshwater

125

flows for the purpose of supplying potable water and of restoring

126

wetland ecosystems, including the quality and clarity of water in

127

the system and the subsequent rejuvenation of the system's

128

mollusks, oyster beds, seagrasses, and salinity.

129

     2. The Shell Creek Watershed Component. This component is

130

anticipated to increase water storage capacity upstream, redirect

131

the stored water to its natural and historical flow pattern

132

resulting in a benefit to the downstream ecosystem, and capture

133

high flows for use as public supply during low-flow periods.

134

     3. The Upper Myakka River-Flatford Swamp Component. This

135

component is anticipated to reduce the amount of water entering

136

the swamp so that normal hydroperiods are restored, to create a

137

historically more natural system, and to increase the

138

availability of water for public supply.

139

     (b) The Facilitating Agricultural Resource Management

140

Systems Initiative. The purpose of this initiative is to expedite

141

the implementation of production-scale, best-management practices

142

in the agricultural sector which benefit water resources by

143

reducing withdrawals from the Floridan aquifer, improving the

144

quality of ground and surface waters, and conserving and

145

restoring water resources and natural systems.

146

     (c) The Ridge Lakes Restoration Initiative. The purpose of

147

this initiative is to protect, restore, and enhance natural

148

systems and flood protection by improving and protecting the

149

water quality of approximately 130 lakes located along the Lake

150

Wales Ridge in Polk County and Highlands County, which quality is

151

threatened by stormwater runoff, wastewater effluent, fertilizer

152

applications, groundwater pollution, degradation of shoreline

153

habitats, and hydrologic alterations. This initiative shall be

154

accomplished through the construction of systems designed to

155

treat the stormwater runoff that threatens the water quality of

156

such lakes. Such systems include swales, retention basins, and

157

long infiltration basins, if feasible.

158

     (d) The Upper Peace River Watershed Restoration Initiative.

159

The purpose of this initiative is to improve the quality of

160

waters and ecosystems in the watershed of the Upper Peace River

161

by recharging aquifers, restoring the flow of surface waters, and

162

restoring the capacity of natural systems to store surface

163

waters. The Legislature finds that such improvements are

164

necessary because the quantity and quality of the fresh water

165

that flows to the basin of the Peace River and Charlotte Harbor

166

are adversely affected by the significant alteration and

167

degradation of the watershed of the Upper Peace River, and

168

because restoration of the watershed of the Upper Peace River is

169

a critical component of the Charlotte Harbor National Estuary

170

Program's Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan, the

171

Southwest Florida Water Management District's Surface Water

172

Improvement and Management Plan, and the Southern Water Use

173

Caution Area Recovery Strategy. This initiative shall include an

174

Upper-Peace-River component. In addition to the initiative's

175

other purposes, this component will provide a critical link to a

176

major greenway that extends from the lower southwest coast of

177

this state through the watershed of the Peace River and the Green

178

Swamp and further north to the Ocala National Forest. Projects

179

that are included in the Upper-Peace-River component include:

180

     1. The Lake Hancock Component. The purpose of this

181

component is to help meet the minimum-flow requirements in the

182

Upper Peace River and to improve water quality. The component

183

shall include modifications of a structure to control the

184

elevation of water levels in Lake Hancock and the treatment of

185

outfall from the lake.

186

     2. The Peace Creek Canal Restoration Project. The purpose

187

of this project is to enhance the recharge of aquifers, restore

188

the capacity of natural systems to store waters, and provide

189

flood protection. The project shall be implemented by undertaking

190

the actions needed to meet the minimum-flow requirements under s.

191

373.042 and thereafter holding excess surface water from the

192

Peace Creek Canal in storage for public water supply or

193

commercial or industrial water users.

194

     (e) The Central Florida Water Resource Development

195

Initiative. The purpose of this initiative is to create and

196

implement a long-term plan that takes a comprehensive approach to

197

limit ground water withdrawals in the Southern Water Use Caution

198

Area and to identify and develop alternative water supplies for

199

Polk County. The initiative shall be implemented by the district

200

as an on-going program in cooperation with Polk County and the

201

South Florida Water Management District. The initiative shall

202

include:

203

     1. The Kissimmee River component. This component shall

204

include developing, if feasible, a supply of potable water from

205

surface waters near Lake Kissimmee. This project is intended to

206

increase the amount of water available for meeting public demands

207

for water in the Central Florida Coordination Area while not

208

violating the minimum flows and levels adopted for the Kissimmee

209

River.

210

     2. The Upper Peace River component. This component shall be

211

implemented by investigating the feasibility of using an off-

212

stream reservoir that may include the storage of water on private

213

lands to capture water from the Peace River during high-flow

214

periods for use as a public water supply.

215

     (5) By March 1 each year, the district shall report on the

216

implementation of this section as part of the consolidated annual

217

report required in s. 373.036(7). The district shall annually

218

submit a copy of the implementation report and recommended

219

legislative proposals to the President of the Senate and the

220

Speaker of the House of Representatives. The implementation

221

report must include, at a minimum:

222

     (a) A summary of the conditions of the Southern Water Use

223

Caution Area, including the status of the components of the West-

224

Central Florida Water Restoration Action Plan; and

225

     (b) An annual accounting of the expenditure of funds. The

226

accounting must, at a minimum, provide details of expenditures

227

separately by plan component and any subparts of a plan

228

component, and include specific information about amount and use

229

of funds from federal, state, and local government sources. In

230

detailing the use of these funds, the district shall indicate

231

those funds that are designated to meet requirements for matching

232

funds.

233

     Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2008.