HB 649

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to water management districts; amending s.
3	373.0693, F.S.; revising provisions relating to the
4	membership of basin boards; specifying the terms of
5	service for basin board members designated by district
6	governing board chairs; providing that basin board members
7	designated by district governing board chairs are voting
8	members and counted for quorum purposes; providing for
9	designated district governing board members to serve as
10	basin board chairs and co-chairs; providing that a quorum
11	of remaining members may conduct business if there is a
12	vacancy on the board; revising provisions relating to the
13	membership of the Manasota Basin Board; providing for the
14	designation of a member of the district governing board to
15	serve on the basin board; amending s. 373.171, F.S.;
16	exempting cooperative funding programs from certain
17	rulemaking requirements; amending s. 373.228, F.S.;
18	revising legislative intent relating to landscape
19	irrigation restrictions; providing that local governments
20	may adopt restrictions set forth in district rules or
21	orders; amending s. 373.707, F.S.; authorizing water
22	management districts to use certain moneys in the Water
23	Protection and Sustainability Program Trust Fund for water
24	resource development projects; providing an effective
25	date.
26
27	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
28
29	Section 1.  Subsections (1) through (7) of section
30	373.0693, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
31	373.0693  Basins; basin boards.-
32	(1)(a)  Any areas within a district may be designated by
33	the district governing board as subdistricts or basins. The
34	designations of such basins shall be made by resolution of the
35	district governing board by resolutions thereof. The governing
36	board of the district may change the boundaries of such basins,
37	or create new basins, by resolution.
38	(b)  No subdistrict or basin in the St. Johns River Water
39	Management District other than established by this act is shall
40	become effective until approved by the Legislature.
41	(2)  Each basin shall be under the control of a basin board
42	which shall be composed of at least not less than three members,
43	including one or more representatives but shall include one
44	representative from each of the counties included in the basin.
45	(3)  Except for a member of the district governing board
46	serving on a basin board pursuant to subsection (6), each member
47	of a the various basin board boards shall be appointed serve for
48	a period of 3 years or until a successor is appointed, but not
49	more than 180 days after the end of the term., except that The
50	board membership of each new basin board shall be divided into
51	three groups as equally as possible, with members in such groups
52	to be appointed for 1, 2, and 3 years, respectively. Each basin
53	board shall choose a vice chair and a secretary to serve for a
54	period of 1 year. The term of office of a basin board member
55	shall be construed to commence on March 2 preceding the date of
56	appointment and to terminate March 1 of the year of the end of a
57	term or may continue until a successor is appointed, but not
58	more than 180 days after the end of the expired term. A member
59	of the district governing board serving on a basin board
60	pursuant to subsection (6) shall serve for a period commensurate
61	with his or her term on the governing board.
62	(4)  Except for a member of the district governing board
63	serving on a basin board pursuant to subsection (6), members of
64	a basin board boards shall be appointed by the Governor, subject
65	to confirmation by the Senate at the next regular session of the
66	Legislature.; and The refusal or failure of the Senate to
67	confirm an appointment shall create a vacancy in the office to
68	which the appointment was made.
69	(5)  Basin board members shall serve without receive no
70	compensation for services as such; but are entitled to
71	reimbursement for per diem and travel expenses as provided in s.
72	112.061, while officially on work for the district, they shall
73	receive their actual travel expenses between their respective
74	places of residence and the place where official district
75	business is conducted, subsistence, lodging, and other expenses
76	in the amount actually incurred. These expenses may not exceed
77	the statutory amount allowed state officers and employees. This
78	subsection applies retroactively to the effective date of the
79	creation of each of the five separate water management
80	districts.
81	(6)(a)  Notwithstanding any other provision of the
82	provisions of any other general or special law to the contrary,
83	a member of the district governing board of the district
84	residing in the basin, or, if no member resides in the basin, a
85	member of the district governing board designated by the chair
86	of the district governing board, shall be a voting member of the
87	basin board and counted for purposes of establishing a quorum.
88	(b)  A governing board member shall serve as the chair of
89	the basin board. If more than one governing board member is
90	designated to a basin board, each shall rotate as co-chair of
91	the basin board. The chair or co-chair shall preside at all
92	meetings of the basin board, except that the vice chair may
93	preside in the his or her absence of the chair and co-chair. The
94	chair shall be the liaison officer of the district in all
95	affairs in the basin and shall be kept informed of all such
96	affairs.
97	(c)  If a vacancy occurs on a basin board, a quorum of the
98	total remaining members may continue to transact official
99	business until a successor is appointed.
100	(d)(b)  Basin boards within the Southwest Florida Water
101	Management District shall meet regularly as determined by a
102	majority vote of the basin board members. Subject to the notice
103	requirements of chapter 120, special meetings, both emergency
104	and nonemergency, may be called either by the chair or the
105	elected vice chair of the basin board or upon request of two
106	basin board members. The district staff shall include on the
107	agenda of any basin board meeting any item for discussion or
108	action requested by a member of that basin board. The district
109	staff shall notify any basin board, as well as their respective
110	counties, of any vacancies occurring in the district governing
111	board or their respective basin boards.
112	(7)  At 11:59 p.m. on December 31, 1976, the Manasota
113	Watershed Basin of the Ridge and Lower Gulf Coast Water
114	Management District, which is annexed to the Southwest Florida
115	Water Management District by change of its boundaries pursuant
116	to chapter 76-243, Laws of Florida, shall be formed into a
117	subdistrict or basin of the Southwest Florida Water Management
118	District, subject to the same provisions as the other basins in
119	such district. Such subdistrict shall be designated initially as
120	the Manasota Basin. The members of the governing board of the
121	Manasota Watershed Basin of the Ridge and Lower Gulf Coast Water
122	Management District shall become members of the governing board
123	of the Manasota Basin of the Southwest Florida Water Management
124	District. Notwithstanding other provisions in this section,
125	beginning on July 1, 2011 2001, the membership of the Manasota
126	Basin Board shall be comprised of two members from Manatee
127	County, and two members from Sarasota County, and any members of
128	the district governing board designated by the chair of the
129	district governing board pursuant to subsection (6). Matters
130	relating to tie votes shall be resolved pursuant to subsection
131	(6) by the chair designated by the governing board to vote in
132	case of a tie vote.
133	Section 2.  Subsection (5) is added to section 373.171,
134	Florida Statutes, to read:
135	373.171  Rules.-
136	(5)  Cooperative funding programs are not subject to the
137	rulemaking requirements of chapter 120. However, any portion of
138	an approved program which affects the substantial interests of a
139	party is subject to s. 120.569.
140	Section 3.  Section 373.228, Florida Statutes, is amended
141	to read:
142	373.228  Landscape irrigation design.-
143	(1)  The Legislature finds that multiple areas throughout
144	the state have been identified by water management districts as
145	water resource caution areas, which indicates that in the near
146	future water demand in those areas will exceed the current
147	available water supply and that conservation is one of the
148	mechanisms by which future water demand will be met.
149	(2)  The Legislature finds that landscape irrigation
150	comprises a significant portion of water use and that current
151	typical landscape irrigation systems, and Florida-friendly
152	landscaping designs, and landscape irrigation restrictions offer
153	significant potential water conservation benefits.
154	(3)  It is the intent of the Legislature to improve
155	landscape irrigation water use efficiency by ensuring that
156	landscape irrigation systems meet or exceed minimum design
157	criteria and that, pursuant to s. 373.609, the landscape
158	irrigation restrictions of a water management district may be
159	implemented by ordinance of the applicable local governments.
160	(4)  The water management districts shall work with the
161	Florida Nursery, Growers and Landscape Association, the Florida
162	Native Plant Society, the Florida Chapter of the American
163	Society of Landscape Architects, the Florida Irrigation Society,
164	the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the
165	Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, the Department of
166	Environmental Protection, the Department of Transportation, the
167	Florida League of Cities, the Florida Association of Counties,
168	and the Florida Association of Community Developers to develop
169	landscape irrigation and Florida-friendly landscaping design
170	standards for new construction which incorporate a landscape
171	irrigation system and develop scientifically based model
172	guidelines for urban, commercial, and residential landscape
173	irrigation, including drip irrigation, for plants, trees, sod,
174	and other landscaping. The standards must shall be based on the
175	irrigation code defined in the Florida Building Code, Plumbing
176	Volume, Appendix F. Local governments shall use the standards
177	and guidelines when developing landscape irrigation and Florida-
178	friendly landscaping ordinances. By January 1, 2011, the
179	agencies and entities specified in this subsection shall review
180	the standards and guidelines to determine whether new research
181	findings require a change or modification of the standards and
182	guidelines.
183	(5)  Notwithstanding s. 373.217, local governments may
184	adopt ordinances that implement landscape irrigation
185	restrictions set forth in water management district rules or
186	orders. In evaluating water use applications from public water
187	suppliers, water management districts shall consider whether the
188	applicable local government has adopted ordinances for
189	landscaping and irrigation systems consistent with the Florida-
190	friendly landscaping provisions of s. 373.185.
191	Section 4.  Paragraph (c) of subsection (8) of section
192	373.707, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
193	373.707  Alternative water supply development.-
194	(8)
195	(c)  The Financial assistance for alternative water supply
196	projects allocated in each district's budget as required in
197	subsection (6) shall be combined with the state funds and used
198	to assist in funding the project construction costs of
199	alternative water supply projects and the project costs of
200	conservation projects that result in quantifiable water savings
201	selected by the governing board. If the district has not
202	completed any regional water supply plan, or the regional water
203	supply plan does not identify the need for any alternative water
204	supply projects, Funds deposited in the Water Protection and
205	Sustainability Program Trust Fund to the credit of the Suwannee
206	River Water Management District that district's trust fund may
207	also be used for regional water supply planning, water resource
208	development, and water resource projects, including, but not
209	limited to, springs protection.
210	Section 5.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.