Florida Senate - 2009 SENATOR AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 2080
Barcode 926862
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
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Floor: 1/AD/2R .
04/29/2009 02:05 PM .
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Senator Alexander moved the following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Delete lines 119 - 274
4 and insert:
5 (4) The West-Central Florida Water Restoration Action Plan
6 includes:
7 (a) The Central West Coast Surface Water Enhancement
8 Initiative. The purpose of this initiative is to make additional
9 surface waters available for public supply through restoration
10 of surface waters, natural water flows, and freshwater wetland
11 communities. This initiative is designed to allow limits on
12 groundwater withdrawals in order to slow the rate of saltwater
13 intrusion. The initiative shall be an ongoing program in
14 cooperation with the Peace River-Manasota Regional Water Supply
15 Authority created under s. 373.1962.
16 (b) The Facilitating Agricultural Resource Management
17 Systems Initiative. The purpose of this initiative is to
18 expedite the implementation of production-scale, best management
19 practices in the agricultural sector, which will result in
20 reductions in groundwater withdrawals and improvements in water
21 quality, water resources, and ecology. The initiative is a cost
22 share reimbursement program to provide funding incentives to
23 agricultural landowners for the implementation of best
24 management practices. The initiative shall be implemented by the
25 district in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture and
26 Consumer Services. Cooperative funding programs approved by the
27 governing board shall not be subject to the rulemaking
28 requirements of chapter 120. However, any portion of an approved
29 program which affects the substantial interests of a party shall
30 be subject to s. 120.569.
31 (c) The Ridge Lakes Restoration Initiative. The purpose of
32 this initiative is to protect, restore, and enhance natural
33 systems and flood protection by improving and protecting the
34 water quality of approximately 130 lakes located along the Lake
35 Wales Ridge in Polk and Highlands Counties, which quality is
36 threatened by stormwater runoff, wastewater effluent, fertilizer
37 applications, groundwater pollution, degradation of shoreline
38 habitats, and hydrologic alterations. This initiative shall be
39 accomplished through the construction of systems designed to
40 treat the stormwater runoff that threatens the water quality of
41 such lakes. Such systems include swales, retention basins, and
42 long infiltration basins, if feasible.
43 (d) The Upper Peace River Watershed Restoration Initiative.
44 The purpose of this initiative is to improve the quality of
45 waters and ecosystems in the watershed of the Upper Peace River
46 by recharging aquifers, restoring the flow of surface waters,
47 and restoring the capacity of natural systems to store surface
48 waters. The Legislature finds that such improvements are
49 necessary because the quantity and quality of the fresh water
50 that flows to the basin of the Peace River and Charlotte Harbor
51 are adversely affected by the significant alteration and
52 degradation of the watershed of the Upper Peace River and
53 because restoration of the watershed of the Upper Peace River is
54 a critical component of the Charlotte Harbor National Estuary
55 Program’s Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan, the
56 Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Surface Water
57 Improvement and Management Plan, and the Southern Water Use
58 Caution Area Recovery Strategy. This initiative shall include an
59 Upper Peace River Component. In addition to the initiative’s
60 other purposes, this component will provide a critical link to a
61 major greenway that extends from the lower southwest coast of
62 this state through the watershed of the Peace River and the
63 Green Swamp and further north to the Ocala National Forest.
64 (e) The Central Florida Water Resource Development
65 Initiative. The purpose of this initiative is to create and
66 implement a long-term plan that takes a comprehensive approach
67 to limit ground water withdrawals in the Southern Water Use
68 Caution Area and to identify and develop alternative water
69 supplies for Polk County. The project components developed
70 pursuant to this initiative are eligible for state and regional
71 funding under s. 373.196 as an alternative water supply, as
72 defined in s. 373.019, or as a supplemental water supply under
73 the rules of the Southwest Florida Water Management District or
74 the South Florida Water Management District. The initiative
75 shall be implemented by the district as an ongoing program in
76 cooperation with Polk County and the South Florida Water
77 Management District.
78 (5) As part of the consolidated annual report required
79 pursuant s. 373.036(7), the district may include:
80 (a) A summary of the conditions of the Southern Water Use
81 Caution Area, including the status of the components of the
82 West-Central Florida Water Restoration Action Plan.
83 (b) An annual accounting of the expenditure of funds. The
84 accounting must, at a minimum, provide details of expenditures
85 separately by plan component and any subparts of a plan
86 component, and include specific information about amount and use
87 of funds from federal, state, and local government sources. In
88 detailing the use of these funds, the district shall indicate
89 those funds that are designated to meet requirements for
90 matching funds.
91 (6) The district shall submit the West-Central Florida
92 Water Restoration Action Plan developed pursuant to subsection
93 (4) to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House
94 of Representatives prior to the 2010 regular legislative session
95 for review. If the Legislature takes no action on the plan
96 during the 2010 regular legislative session, the plan shall be
97 deemed approved.
98
99
100 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
101 And the title is amended as follows:
102 Delete lines 21 - 34
103 and insert:
104 initiatives; providing for the Southwest Florida Water
105 Management District to include specified criteria
106 concerning implementation of the plan, regional
107 conditions, and the use of funds in specified annual
108 reports; requiring that the Southwest Florida Water
109 Management District develop and submit a plan to the
110 Legislature; providing for approval of the plan;
111 providing an effective date.
112