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Phone: (850)
488-7146
Fax:
(850) 487-0801
Office of Governor Charlie Crist
State of
Florida
The Capitol
400 S. Monroe St.
Tallahassee, FL
32399-0001
Background
information:
This bill was
initially supported by conservationists across the state because it finally
raised Florida-friendly landscaping to prominence. Senate Bill 2080 was
passed in the final hours of the regular legislative session after damaging
amendments were added. PCEC seriously questions whether most legislators
were even aware of the last minute additions and their potential for unintended
consequences to Florida’s water resources. It is likely that they thought they
were voting for a move to make our shared goals of water conservation more
likely.
The eleventh hour
amendments are a slap in the face to Florida Native Plant Society and other
conservation activists who have worked long and hard to get this kind of
legislation passed. Now, this previously good bill has been hijacked and used to
cover up a very devious plan that sharply reduces opportunities for citizens and
local government planners to have input into the permitting
process.
What this bill
does:
1. Eliminates the
checks and balances on District executive directors’ decisions on consumptive
use permits, variances and other withdrawals.
2. Suppresses the
ability of the public and local governments=2 0to express their concerns about
consumptive use and environmental resource permitting.
3. Eliminates the
basic structure and functions originally and carefully designed over a period of
many years in the creation of Florida’s water management districts. The
new structure created by SB 2080 will fly in the face of years of legislative
restructuring aimed at creating Districts with voting governing boards that
promote good water policy.
4. Eliminates the
collective diversity, wisdom and local area balance inherent in a voting
governing board.
5. Vests virtually
unlimited authority in the five individual water management district executive
directors in their respective districts to allow water withdrawals. This
authority will foster bias, favoritism, and a high potential for abuse and
squelching of opposing opinions regardless of validity.
6. Favors
development and growth special interests for increased and unnecessary water
withdrawals to the detriment of meaningful conservation efforts, local resources
development, and comprehensive growth planning.
7. A district water
czar with too much power and the potential for serious and unintended
consequences will result from this delegation of power to just one person in
each of the five water management districts. Each of these government employees
would be given the power in their district to approve and fund water projects
costing taxpayers in the billions of dollars that involve hundreds of miles of
pipelines and treatment plants designed to take water from Florida’s rivers and
other sources. This kind of power should not be the sole purview of one
individual.
For these reasons,
the Putnam County Environmental council strongly urges you to contact Gov. Crist
and request that he veto Senate Bill 2080. In our opinion, SB 2080 is a
blatant attempt to silence advocates for common sense water resource management
in Florida.
PCEC acknowledges the assistance of PCEC member Terry
Brandt, Santa Fe Lake Dwellers Association, for his help in writing this Action
Alert.
Karen Ahlers, President
Putnam County Environmental Council, Inc.
Post Office Box 1836
Interlachen, FL 32148
Phone: 352-475-1936 or 352-546-3560
Fax: 352-475-1078
OSFR supports this e-mail in
solidarity, protecting the water resources in the state of
Floirda.
Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson
President of Our Santa Fe River, Inc.
460 SW Riverland Ct.
Ft. White, FL 32038
Phone : 1-386-454-4446 or 1-352-232-3906