Seminole County water board opposes St. Johns withdrawal

Seminole County's soil and water conservation district passed a resolution last week in opposition to the county's plan to remove up to 5.5 million gallons of water daily from the St. Johns River.

The county's utility is one of 12 in Central Florida seeking to withdraw up to 262 million gallons per day from St. Johns and Ocklawaha rivers.

"It's become obvious that no single agency was going to step forward and champion strong conservation measures when it comes to water use in Central Florida," said Deborah Schafer, a SSWCD supervisor. "We're running out of water, but state and local agencies simply refuse to put mandatory limits on irrigating our lawns, and it ends up costing the average consumer as a result."

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An administrative judge is expected to review the permit in October after the St. Johns Riverkeeper, the City of Jacksonville and St. Johns County filed petitions for a hearing.

The county plans to use the water to augment its reclaimed water system to make it more reliable during peak usage. The county is also proposing to tap the river after 2013 for drinking water to supplement groundwater supplies that are expected to approach sustainable limits recently adopted by the district.