Florida Senate - 2009 SENATOR AMENDMENT Bill No. SB 2080 Barcode 926862 LEGISLATIVE ACTION Senate . House . . . Floor: 1/AD/2R . 04/29/2009 02:05 PM . ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— 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