On August 12th, the Governing Board of the St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD) will vote on a permit application from California-based Niagara Bottling to withdraw 484,000 gallons of groundwater a day from the aquifer. Recently, the SJRWMD staff recommended that the permit be approved, and the Governing Board rarely goes against staff recommendations. However, the Governing Board may not have a chance to vote if Lake County, Groveland, and Clermont follow through and file for an adminstrative hearing to challenge the permit application, as they have indicated that they might do.
Orange County Commissioner Teresa Jacobs sent a memo to Mayor Rich Crotty asking about the possibility of providing support to Lake County. Jacobs said, "Can anyone expect citizens across Central Florida to take water conservation seriously if the SJRWMD approves a permit for a private company to pull millions of gallons of water from the aquifer to bottle and sell throughout the country?"
Here is the contact information for the SJRWMD Governing Board members, so that you can let them know what you think about the permit.
David G. Graham, Chairman dgraham@sjrwmd.com
Susan N. Hughes, Vice Chairman shughes@sjrwmd.com
Ann T. Moore, Secretary amoore@sjrwmd.com
W. Leonard Wood, Treasurer lwood@sjrwmd.com
Douglas C. Bournique dbournique@sjrwmd.com
Michael Ertel mertel@sjrwmd.com
Hersey “Herky” Huffman hhuffman@sjrwmd.com
Arlen N. Jumper ajumper@sjrwmd.com
Hans G. Tanzler III htanzler@sjrwmd.com
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