Florida Senate - 2009 (Corrected Copy) SB 1070
By Senator Wise
20-01310-09 20091070__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to water management districts;
3 amending s. 373.073, F.S.; requiring the members of
4 the governing boards of the water management districts
5 be elected rather than appointed; providing an
6 effective date.
7
8 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
9
10 Section 1. Section 373.073, Florida Statutes, is amended to
11 read:
12 373.073 Governing board.—
13 (1)(a) The governing board of each water management
14 district shall be composed of 9 elected members who must shall
15 reside within the district, except that the Southwest Florida
16 Water Management District shall be composed of 13 elected
17 members who must shall reside within the district. Members of
18 the governing boards shall be appointed by the Governor, subject
19 to confirmation by the Senate at the next regular session of the
20 Legislature, and the refusal or failure of the Senate to confirm
21 an appointment creates a vacancy in the office to which the
22 appointment was made.
23 (a) The term of office for a governing board member is 4
24 years and commences on March 2 following the previous general
25 election of the year in which the appointment is made and
26 terminates on March 1 of the fourth calendar year of the term or
27 may continue until a successor is appointed, but not more than
28 180 days. Terms of office of governing board members shall be
29 staggered to help maintain consistency and continuity in the
30 exercise of governing board duties and to minimize disruption in
31 district operations.
32 (b) Commencing January 1, 1999, the Governor shall appoint
33 the following number of governing board members in each year of
34 the Governor's 4-year term of office:
35 1. In the first year of the Governor's term of office, the
36 Governor shall appoint three members to the governing board of
37 each district.
38 2. In the second year of the Governor's term of office, the
39 Governor shall appoint three members to the governing board of
40 the Southwest Florida Water Management District and two members
41 to the governing board of each other district.
42 3. In the third year of the Governor's term of office, the
43 Governor shall appoint three members to the governing board of
44 the Southwest Florida Water Management District and two members
45 to the governing board of each other district.
46 4. In the fourth year of the Governor's term of office, the
47 Governor shall appoint two members to the governing board of
48 each district.
49 (b) For any governing board vacancy that occurs before the
50 next date scheduled election for that the office to be filled
51 under this paragraph, the Governor shall appoint a person who
52 meets the applicable meeting residency requirements of
53 subsection (2) to complete the term of that office for a term
54 that will expire on the date scheduled for the term of that
55 office to terminate under this subsection. In addition to the
56 residency requirements for the governing boards as provided by
57 subsection (2), the Governor shall consider appointing governing
58 board members to represent an equitable cross-section of
59 regional interests and technical expertise.
60 (2) Election to membership on governing boards must be in
61 accordance with shall be selected from candidates who have
62 significant experience in one or more of the following areas,
63 including, but not limited to: agriculture, the development
64 industry, local government, government-owned or privately owned
65 water utilities, law, civil engineering, environmental science,
66 hydrology, accounting, or financial businesses. Notwithstanding
67 the provisions of any other general or special law to the
68 contrary, vacancies in the governing boards of the water
69 management districts shall be filled according to the following
70 residency requirements, representing areas designated by the
71 United States Water Resources Council in United States
72 Geological Survey, River Basin and Hydrological Unit Map of
73 Florida—1975, Map Series No. 72:
74 (a) Northwest Florida Water Management District:
75 1. One member must shall reside in the area generally
76 designated as the “Perdido River Basin-Perdido Bay Coastal Area
77 Lower Conecuh River-Escambia River Basin” hydrologic units and
78 that portion of the “Escambia Bay Coastal Area” hydrologic unit
79 which lies west of Pensacola Bay and Escambia Bay.
80 2. One member must shall reside in the area generally
81 designated as the “Blackwater River Basin-Yellow River Basin
82 Choctawhatchee Bay Coastal Area” hydrologic units and that
83 portion of the “Escambia Bay Coastal Area” hydrologic unit which
84 lies east of Pensacola Bay and Escambia Bay.
85 3. One member must shall reside in the area generally
86 designated as the “Choctawhatchee River Basin-St. Andrews Bay
87 Coastal Area” hydrologic units.
88 4. One member must shall reside in the area generally
89 designated as the “Lower Chattahoochee-Apalachicola River
90 Chipola River Basin-Coastal Area between Ochlockonee River
91 Apalachicola Rivers-Apalachicola Bay coastal area and offshore
92 islands” hydrologic units.
93 5. One member must shall reside in the area generally
94 designated as the “Ochlockonee River Basin-St. Marks and Wakulla
95 Rivers and coastal area between Aucilla and Ochlockonee River
96 Basin” hydrologic units.
97 6. Four members shall be elected appointed at large, except
98 that no county shall have more than two members on the governing
99 board.
100 (b) Suwannee River Water Management District:
101 1. One member must shall reside in the area generally
102 designated as the “Aucilla River Basin” hydrologic unit.
103 2. One member must shall reside in the area generally
104 designated as the “Coastal Area between Suwannee and Aucilla
105 Rivers” hydrologic unit.
106 3. One member must shall reside in the area generally
107 designated as the “Withlacoochee River Basin-Alapaha River
108 Basin-Suwannee River Basin above the Withlacoochee River”
109 hydrologic units.
110 4. One member must shall reside in the area generally
111 designated as the “Suwannee River Basin below the Withlacoochee
112 River excluding the Santa Fe River Basin” hydrologic unit.
113 5. One member must shall reside in the area generally
114 designated as the “Santa Fe Basin-Waccasassa River and coastal
115 area between Withlacoochee and Suwannee River” hydrologic units.
116 6. Four members shall be elected appointed at large, except
117 that no county shall have more than two members on the governing
118 board.
119 (c) St. Johns River Water Management District:
120 1. One member must shall reside in the area generally
121 designated as the “St. Marys River Basin-Coastal area between
122 St. Marys and St. Johns Rivers” hydrologic units.
123 2. One member must shall reside in the area generally
124 designated as the “St. Johns River Basin below Oklawaha River
125 Coastal area between the St. Johns River and Ponce de Leon
126 Inlet” hydrologic units.
127 3. One member must shall reside in the area generally
128 designated as the “Oklawaha River Basin” hydrologic unit.
129 4. One member must shall reside in the area generally
130 designated as the “St. Johns River Basin above the Oklawaha
131 River” hydrologic unit.
132 5. One member must shall reside in the area generally
133 designated as the “Coastal area between Ponce de Leon Inlet and
134 Sebastian Inlet-Coastal area Sebastian Inlet to St. Lucie River”
135 hydrologic units.
136 6. Four members shall be elected appointed at large, except
137 that no county shall have more than two members on the governing
138 board.
139 (d) South Florida Water Management District:
140 1. Two members must shall reside in Miami-Dade County.
141 2. One member must shall reside in Broward County.
142 3. One member must shall reside in Palm Beach County.
143 4. One member must shall reside in Collier County, Lee
144 County, Hendry County, or Charlotte County.
145 5. One member must shall reside in Glades County,
146 Okeechobee County, Highlands County, Polk County, Orange County,
147 or Osceola County.
148 6. Two members, elected appointed at large, must shall
149 reside in an area consisting of St. Lucie, Martin, Palm Beach,
150 Broward, Miami-Dade, or and Monroe Counties.
151 7. One member, elected appointed at large, must shall
152 reside in an area consisting of Collier, Lee, Charlotte, Hendry,
153 Glades, Osceola, Okeechobee, Polk, Highlands, or and Orange
154 Counties.
155 8. No county shall have more than three members on the
156 governing board.
157 (e) Southwest Florida Water Management District:
158 1. Two members shall reside in Hillsborough County.
159 2. One member must shall reside in the area consisting of
160 Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties.
161 3. Two members must shall reside in Pinellas County.
162 4. One member must shall reside in Manatee County.
163 5. Two members must shall reside in Polk County.
164 6. One member must shall reside in Pasco County.
165 7. One member must shall be elected appointed at large from
166 Levy, Citrus, Sumter, or and Lake Counties.
167 8. One member shall be elected appointed at large from
168 Hardee, DeSoto, or and Highlands Counties.
169 9. One member shall be elected appointed at large from
170 Marion or and Hernando Counties.
171 10. One member shall be elected appointed at large from
172 Sarasota or and Charlotte Counties.
173 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009.