Crist's bill takes power from water management -- Directors in Fla.'s districts now will issue use permits

Crist's bill takes power from water management -- Directors in Fla.'s districts now will issue use permits

BILL KACZOR
Associated Press Writer
Publication Date: 07/01/09

TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Charlie Crist again disappointed environmentalists Tuesday by signing a wide-ranging law that takes permit-issuing authority away from the boards of water management districts.

Instead, it gives the executive director in each of Florida's five water management districts the power to issue surface water and consumptive use permits.

Environmentalists had urged Crist to veto the bill (SB 2080), saying the measure would shut the public out of the permitting process and make it more difficult to challenge permit applications.

Crist turned aside their objections, just as he did with a growth management bill a month ago.

In a signing letter, Crist wrote that other provisions would enhance water conservation, but he urged the boards to keep putting the permits on their meeting agendas "for discussion and transparency purposes" even though they no longer have decision-making authority.

"We're very disappointed," said Audubon of Florida deputy director Eric Draper. "The Legislature argues the public doesn't care about this, but they do."

Draper, also a Democratic candidate for state agriculture commissioner, acknowledged permit disputes don't come up often, but he said when they do there's plenty of public interest.

He cited an April meeting of the St. Johns River Water Management District that drew hundreds to oppose a permit that would let municipal water systems pump millions of gallons a day from the St. Johns. The board voted to issue the permit but a legal challenge is pending.

Draper said the new law's sponsors told him they'd be receptive to changing the provision next year.

"I'm certainly not married to the language," said Rep. Denise Grimsley, a Lake Placid Republican who sponsored the measure in the House. "There's certainly no ill intent."

Other groups that joined Audubon in urging Crist to veto the bill included 1000 Friends of Florida and the Florida Chapter of the Sierra Club.

All three organizations also had asked him to veto the growth management bill that lifted requirements to have roads and other transportation in place before development projects could be built in urban areas. The environmentalists argued the definition of urban areas was too broad and would encourage sprawl.

The Republian governor sided with development interests and signed the measure (SB 360). Crist said it will boost Florida's sagging construction industry and create new jobs by making it easier to build in urban areas and extending the life of existing development permits for two years.

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