Water management officials are wary of plans for a statewide panel to oversee diversion from areas of plenty to high development locales.
By CRAIG PITTMAN
Published September 6, 2003
TAMPA - Facing a skeptical crowd of water managers Friday, the head of a business group studying the state's water supply defended a proposal to create a statewide commission that could route water from rural counties to booming areas.
The proposals have been developed in private meetings over the past year by a task force of the Council of 100, a group of business executives who advise Gov. Jeb Bush. The task force has been led by Lee Arnold, a developer and real estate broker from Clearwater, and the 30 members include other developers, agriculture executives and sugar growers.
"This is something we're doing for the benefit of the people of Florida," Arnold told a gathering of water managers, legislators, local officials, engineers and biologists convened in Tampa for a conference on water management.
Arnold said he can't figure out why anyone would think such a water distribution proposal would benefit him as a developer, "given all the arrows I'm now enjoying." Arnold was referring to the criticism the Council of 100 proposals have generated, both at the conference and around the state. About 20 Sierra Club members, some dressed as fish, protested the proposals outside the conference Thursday.
The recommendations, which Arnold presented to Bush in July, noted a state analysis that says Floridians used 7.2-billion gallons of water a day in 1995. Demand is expected to grow to 9.1-billion gallons by 2020, primarily in Central and South Florida.
As a result, the task force recommended Bush "put water supply on the same level of importance as protection of the environment" by establishing a Florida Water Supply Commission, seven people appointed by the governor.
The commission would oversee the five state water management districts. Among other duties, the commissioners would "identify water stress areas and designate water supply service areas," the proposal states.
The commission would also "consider a statewide water distribution system" to route supplies "from water-rich areas to water-poor areas," the proposal states.
Although Arnold, in other public statements, has identified the Suwannee River region as one such "water-rich" area, he told the audience, "We did not recommend transporting water from the Suwannee River region."
Still, the river carries "8-billion gallons a day going to the gulf, and when you're trying to find an extra 2-billion gallons a day, that's an obvious target," Arnold said. Arnold said the task force's final report will be unveiled publicly later this month. Until then, he said, "I'm in a quiet period," which he said meant he would not answer questions from reporters or respond to critics.
"Everybody just needs to relax until they see the report," he said as he backed away from reporters.
Although there had been talk of the Council of 100 proposals being discussed during a special legislative session next month, Senate President Jim King said this week that revamping the state's water system should not come up before the 2004 regular session.
"It is far too complex to take up in a special session," he said. King, R-Jacksonville, said he wants to set up a special committee to study the Council recommendations, which he said are likely to spark controversy in his district.
"I'm not so sure everybody in North Florida would agree" to using water from that region to supply growth elsewhere, he said.
King is not the only lawmaker unenthusiastic about the proposals. Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, and Sen. Nancy Argenziano, R-Dunnellon, criticized the proposals during a panel discussion at the conference. "I personally would not support creating more bureaucracy," said Dockery, the Senate majority whip. As for transferring water to counties that are running low, she said, counties that are being good stewards of their resources "should not be penalized for the benefit of those areas that have not done a good job."
Argenziano contended that taking water from a river in one part of the state for consumption elsewhere robs the natural system of a chance to recharge the aquifer, damaging the environment.
The executive directors of the two water districts that cover South Florida and Central Florida also expressed skepticism.
"I have yet to identify what's broke," said Henry Dean, executive director of the South Florida Water Management District.
Kirby Green, whose St. Johns River Water Management District covers fast-growing Orange, Lake and Seminole counties and reaches up through the Jacksonville area, predicted that the cost of building the pumps and pipelines necessary to move enough water to make a difference "would outweigh the benefit."
Both Dean and Green say their agencies have planned ahead enough to supply water for their region's future growth over the next 20 years. Maybe so, Arnold said, but that's not good enough.
"As a standard party line they're pretty comfortable they can meet water challenges in the future," Arnold said. "The council is about asking for certainty."
- Times staff writer Lucy Morgan contributed to this report.
