Notice of Rule Development for Loxahatchee River Watershed Restoration Project Rule
DATE AND TIME:
February 22, 2022, 10:00 AM
MEETING AGENDA
MEETING PRESENTATION
- Presentation for Notice of Rule Development for Loxahatchee River Watershed Restoration Project Rule
WEBPAGE
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Natalie Kraft, Lead Scientist, South Florida Water Management District, 3301 Gun Club Road, West Palm Beach, FL 33401; telephone: (561) 682-2196; email: nkraft@sfwmd.gov.
GENERAL SUBJECT MATTER TO BE DISCUSSED:
Amending existing rules to provide water resource protection for the LRWRP.
To amend existing consumptive use permitting criteria to protect water made available by the Loxahatchee River Watershed Restoration Project (LRWRP), a component of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP). The proposed rule development involves amending the Applicant’s Handbook for Water Use Permit Applications within the South Florida Water Management District (Applicant’s Handbook) to expand the Lower East Coast Regional Water Availability criteria’s definition of North Palm Beach County/Loxahatchee River Watershed Waterbodies to include several LWRWP project components.
The rulemaking effort will also adopt rules to protect the groundwater associated with the project’s aquifer storage and recovery wells that will be located at the C-18W Reservoir site. The need for rulemaking is twofold: 1) the Northwest Fork of the Loxahatchee River MFL [Rule 40E-8.421(6)(a), F.A.C.] identifies the Lower East Coast Regional Water Availability criteria as part of the MFL recovery strategy; and 2) the LRWRP is a CERP effort that requires project water be protected. The existing Lower East Coast Regional Water Availability restricted allocation area boundary includes most, but not all, the areas in the LRWRP.