Susan N. Hughes
Chairwoman

“The Board and staff have received the message from the public that increased water conservation efforts need to occur as we further explore the development of alternative water supply sources. We also feel it is prudent to complete the various environmental studies that are under way on the St. Johns and Ocklawaha rivers, as well as the preliminary design studies on proposed projects before additional construction funding is allocated.”

W. Leonard Wood
Vice Chairman

“I believe that the vast majority of the public has come to realize that water use habits must change if we are to maintain sustainability of our water. The era of inexpensive, abundant water in Florida is over. We, as a Board, are committed to promoting water conservation in a meaningful way.”

Hersey “Herky” Huffman
Secretary

“I have been greatly concerned about the discussions to take water from the St. Johns and Ocklawaha rivers when we have not yet completed the St. Johns River Water Supply Impact Study. We will complete the study and will have even more information available.”

Hans G. Tanzler III
Treasurer

“It is a fiscally good decision to complete the District’s St. Johns River Water Supply Impact Study before we commit funding to construction of river water withdrawal projects. With the economic slowdown, projected water demands may be less than expected, which may give us more time in many areas to improve conservation and to further enhance available scientific data and analysis.”

Douglas C. Bournique
Member

“For many years, the District has been an innovator in long-range planning for addressing future water supply needs. The Upper Basin of the St. Johns River in Brevard and Indian River counties is a shining example of great planning by providing more water for the river and reducing discharge to tide. We are committed to strengthening the agency’s commitment to water conservation, which also will give us more time to wisely choose alternative water supply projects that will be necessary in the future.”

Michael Ertel
Member

“During these challenging economic times, public entities at all levels need to perform our duties in the most cost-efficient manner possible. Doing so will help to lessen the impact on our taxpayers while ensuring a balanced budget.”

Maryam H. Ghyabi
Member

“The current slowdown in Florida’s population growth can be a positive opportunity for the District to redouble its already ambitious efforts to promote water conservation. Floridians have really begun to realize that our water resources are limited and that conserving them is critical to our future.”

Arlen N. Jumper
Member

“Water conservation is critical if we want to put off withdrawing water from our lakes and rivers to make up for what water the aquifer can no longer provide. The Board’s direction gives the District an opportunity to more thoroughly study the impacts of withdrawals from surface waters and to work harder on water conservation.”

News from July 14, 2009, Board meeting

• District Board maintains millage rate and balanced budget
• Board strengthens commitment to water conservation and delays river water withdrawal project funding

District Board maintains millage rate and balanced budget

The St. Johns River Water Management District’s Governing Board voted today to maintain its tax rate while also approving a balanced tentative budget that holds steady on the District’s core missions.

The Board unanimously approved a tentative $284.48 million budget with a 0.4158 millage rate for the 2009–2010 fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. Two public hearings will be held prior to final budget adoption in September.

The tentative budget would be funded with about $123 million from property taxes, with the remainder coming from state, federal or other sources, and from carryover from the current fiscal year.

The tentative budget represents an $86 million – 23 percent – reduction from the current fiscal year’s budget. Property tax revenue would drop by $13.6 million – a 10 percent reduction.

“In this challenging economy, the Board felt it was critical to keep our taxes low but also to make certain that we continue to fulfill our missions of environmental restoration and ensuring sustainable water supplies,” said Governing Board Chairwoman Susan N. Hughes of Ponte Vedra.

Under a 0.4158 millage rate — 41.58 cents for every $1,000 of assessed property value — the owner of a $200,000 house with a $50,000 homestead exemption would pay $62.37 per year in property taxes to the District.

Because the District is holding the line on its tax rate and because of a recent drop in property assessments, many existing property owners will likely see a decrease in the amount they pay in taxes to the District.

Among highlights of the tentative budget is a strengthening of the agency’s commitment to water conservation and delay in new funding allocations for construction of river water withdrawal projects until completion of environmental protection studies on the St. Johns and Ocklawaha rivers.

Other than water conservation, most major District programs would see a reduction in funds from the current year. Budget highlights include:

• The Lower St. Johns River Basin program’s budget is proposed to be $43 million, which is about $14 million less than the current year. The program would have no new District funding for reuse projects and wastewater treatment plant upgrades and receive no new state funding for basin initiatives. However, nearly $43 million from the current budget is to be carried over for long-term cooperative funding projects. Funding would continue for the St. Johns River Water Supply Impact Study.
• The Middle St. Johns River Basin program would see a reduction of 29.5 percent in its budget next year due to reduced funding from all revenue sources. No new cooperative funding efforts are planned. The tentative budget is $8.217 million.
• The Upper St. Johns River Basin program budget would be reduced by 20.5 percent due to the completion of surface water restoration projects in the basin. The tentative budget is $2.436 million.
• The Upper Ocklawaha River Basin’s tentative budget is $2.112 million, which is about 51.5 percent less than the current year, due to completion of several major restoration projects and no new capital projects.
• The Lake Apopka Basin program’s tentative budget is $9.112 million, which is 33.3 percent less than the current budget, due to no new state or federal revenues to support the North Shore Restoration Area project. The project will proceed with District funding and mitigation funding. The District also plans to commit an additional $10 million to $12 million over the next four years to complete the Lake Levy project in the restoration area.
• The Indian River Lagoon program budget would increase 1.2 percent to $25.2 million for two capital improvement projects, the C-1 rediversion and the Fellsmere Water Management Area projects.
• The Stormwater Cost–Share Program would be reduced by 37.8 percent, which also coincides with a current reduction in local government partner funds for capital stormwater projects. With no new funding expected and less availability of partner funds, the cooperative funding program would carry over funds from the current year to complete long–term projects.

Public hearings on the proposed budget will be held at 5:05 p.m. on Sept. 8 and Sept. 22. Final budget adoption will occur at the Sept. 22 meeting.

The District is responsible for regulating water use and protecting wetlands, waterways and drinking water supplies in all or part of Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Brevard, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Indian River, Lake, Marion, Nassau, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Putnam, St. Johns, Seminole and Volusia counties.

Board strengthens commitment to water conservationand delays river water withdrawal project funding

As part of adopting a tentative budget today, the St. Johns River Water Management District’s Governing Board strengthened the agency’s commitment to water conservation and delayed funding allocations for construction of river water withdrawal projects until the completion of environmental protection studies on the St. Johns and Ocklawaha rivers.

“The Board and staff have received the message from the public that increased water conservation efforts need to occur as we further explore the development of alternative water supply sources,” said Board Chairwoman Susan N. Hughes of Ponte Vedra. “We also feel it is prudent to complete the various environmental studies that are under way on the St. Johns and Ocklawaha rivers, as well as the preliminary design studies on proposed projects before additional construction funding is allocated.”

The Board today approved a tentative $284.48 million budget with a 0.4158 millage rate for the 2009–2010 fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. Two public hearings will be held prior to final budget adoption in September.

The tentative budget includes $9.8 million for water conservation and demand management efforts, and establishes a reserve fund of more than $4 million for future water conservation projects. The District is developing a comprehensive program that could include:

• Establishing aggressive water conservation goals for public supply, agricultural and industrial water users.
• Incorporating aggressive water conservation goals into the 2010 District Water Supply Plan.
• Undertaking rule changes that could require permit holders to implement additional water conservation measures.
• Initiating a water conservation cost–sharing program to help fund implementation of new technologies that will reduce landscape irrigation.

“Increasing water conservation may defer the need for more expensive and challenging alternative water supply solutions,” Hughes said. ”While water conservation alone won’t solve all of our future water supply problems, it will have a direct bearing on the size, scope and timing of alternative water supply projects that will ultimately need to be developed.”

In the FY 2009–2010 tentative budget, no new construction funding is allocated to proposed river water withdrawal projects. During FY 2009–2010, the District will focus on the following initiatives:

• Complete the three–year $2 million St. Johns River Water Supply Impact Study that is examining the potential ecological impacts of river water withdrawals, along with other possible scenarios such as river dredging in Jacksonville and sea level rise.
• Complete the 2010 District Water Supply Plan, including revising projected water demands to reflect the recent slowdown in the state’s population growth.
• Follow through with commitments to assist water utilities in completing alternative water supply project preliminary design reports.

“It is a fiscally good decision to complete the District’s St. Johns River Water Supply Impact Study before we commit funding to construction of river water withdrawal projects,” said Governing Board member Hans G. Tanzler III of Jacksonville, who is chairman of the Board’s Finance, Administration and Audit Committee. “With the economic slowdown, projected water demands may be less than expected, which may give us more time in many areas to improve conservation and to further enhance available scientific data and analysis.”

The District remains committed to ensuring the availability of enough water to meet future needs, which will require increased conservation, development of diversified sources and ensuring the environmental protection of all sources of water. Planning activities to meet these needs will continue and will be refined to reflect new information as it becomes available.