The purpose and effect of the proposed rule amendment will be to: (1) adopt a minimum spring flow for De Leon Springs in Volusia County; and (2) establish factors for determining compliance with a minimum flow or level.

 

WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICTS

St. Johns River Water Management District

RULE NO.:RULE TITLE:

40C-8.031Minimum Surface Water Levels and Flows and Groundwater Levels

PURPOSE AND EFFECT: The purpose and effect of the proposed rule amendment will be to: (1) adopt a minimum spring flow for De Leon Springs in Volusia County; and (2) establish factors for determining compliance with a minimum flow or level.

SUMMARY: The proposed rule would establish a minimum spring flow for De Leon Springs pursuant to the mandate of Section 373.042, Florida Statutes. The terms herein are already defined in Chapter 40C-8, F.A.C. As with all minimum spring flows established by the District, if adopted, the minimum spring flow in this rule amendment would be used as a basis for imposing limitations on withdrawals of groundwater and surface water in the consumptive use permit regulatory process and for reviewing proposed surface water management systems in the environmental resource permit regulatory process. The proposed rule would also establish factors for determining compliance with a minimum flow or level.

SUMMARY OF STATEMENT OF ESTIMATED REGULATORY COSTS AND LEGISLATIVE RATIFICATION:

The Agency has determined that this will not have an adverse impact on small business or likely increase directly or indirectly regulatory costs in excess of $200,000 in the aggregate within one year after the implementation of the rule. A SERC has not been prepared by the Agency.

The Agency has determined that the proposed rule is not expected to require legislative ratification based on the statement of estimated regulatory costs or if no SERC is required, the information expressly relied upon and described herein: The District has completed for the Governor’s Office of Fiscal Accountability and Regulatory Reform (OFARR) the “Is a SERC Required?” form and prepared a summary of the proposed rule amendments, which are both available upon request. Based on the completed “Is a SERC Required?” form and summary and the analysis performed by the District in preparing and completing those documents, the proposed rule amendments are not expected to require legislative ratification pursuant to subsection 120.541(3), F.S.

Any person who wishes to provide information regarding a statement of estimated regulatory costs, or provide a proposal for a lower cost regulatory alternative must do so in writing within 21 days of this notice.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY: 373.044, 373.113 FS.

LAW IMPLEMENTED: 373.042, 373.0421 FS.

IF REQUESTED WITHIN 21 DAYS OF THE DATE OF THIS NOTICE, A HEARING WILL BE SCHEDULED AND ANNOUNCED IN THE FAR.

Pursuant to the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act, any person requiring special accommodations to participate in this workshop/meeting is asked to advise the agency at least 48 hours before the workshop/meeting by contacting: District Clerk, [phone]. If you are hearing or speech impaired, please contact the agency using the Florida Relay Service, 1(800)955-8771 (TDD) or 1(800)955-8770 (Voice).

THE PERSON TO BE CONTACTED REGARDING THE PROPOSED RULE IS: Tom Mayton, Sr. Assistant General Counsel, St. Johns River Water Management District, Office of General Counsel, 4049 Reid Street, Palatka, Florida 32177, [phone] or [e-mail], or Karen Ferguson, Assistant General Counsel, St. Johns River Water Management District, 4049 Reid Street, Palatka, Florida 32177, [phone] or [e-mail].

 

THE FULL TEXT OF THE PROPOSED RULE IS:

 

40C-8.031 Minimum Surface Water Levels and Flows and Groundwater Levels.

(1) through (5) No change.

(6)(a) The minimum spring flow for De Leon Springs in Volusia County is 25.6 Cubic feet per second (CFS).

(b) The minimum spring flow for De Leon Springs is a mean annual flow based on the baseline flow-time series data from 1965 to 2015 under the 2010-pumping condition (Baseline Flow), which data is incorporated by reference and available at {insert URL} and upon request from the St. Johns River Water Management District, 4049 Reid Street, Palatka, FL 32177-2529. The minimum spring flow for De Leon Springs is equal to the Baseline Flow as defined above. 

(7)(6) No change.

(8) Determining Ongoing Status – The purpose of this subsection is to provide the approach to determine whether the flow(s) and/or level(s) of a specific MFL water body is/are below or projected to fall below the rule-specified MFL criteria (along with the associated evaluations necessary to make such a determination). This status assessment is independent from and not a determination of consumptive use permit compliance or environmental resource permit compliance. Permit compliance is a regulatory function that is not considered to be within the scope of this subsection.

(a) A screening level analysis, which incorporates change in rainfall trend and uncertainty in MFLs, will be performed approximately every five years to monitor the status of an adopted MFL, as well as when permit applications are considered that may impact an MFL. If the screening level analysis shows that the MFL is being met based on the rainfall-adjusted flows or levels, then no further actions are required beyond continued monitoring. If the analysis shows that the MFL is not being met, or is trending toward not being met based on the rainfall-adjusted flows and levels, the District will conduct a cause and effect analysis to independently evaluate the potential impacts of various stressors on the MFL water body being assessed. Factors other than consumptive uses of water (e.g., long-term drought) can cause the flow or level of a surface watercourse, aquifer, surface water, or spring to drop below an adopted minimum flow or level. Factors to be considered in the determination of causation include, but are not limited to:

1. Rainfall or other climatic variables;

2. Consumptive use;

3. Land use changes or development;

4. Surface water drainage;

5. Geology/hydromorphology (e.g., sinkhole formation);

6. Water levels/flows in other appropriate water resources (e.g., nearby wells, lakes, streams,   wetlands); and

7. Ecological assessment information.

(b) The types of tools used in the causation analysis include, but are not limited to:

1. Double-mass analyses;

2. Rainfall/flow statistical analysis or flow regression;

3. Stage/duration/frequency analysis;

4. Modeling (regional, groundwater, ecological or water budget models); and

5. Ecological tools.

Based on the causation analysis, the District will assess existing MFL criteria and any associated recovery and prevention strategies to determine the effectiveness of the strategies in recovering from or preventing significant harm to the water body.

(c) This subsection shall not apply within the Central Florida Water Initiative Area, as defined in paragraph 373.0465(2)(a), F.S. (2016).

Rulemaking Authority 373.044, 373.113 FS. Law Implemented 373.042, 373.0421, 373.103, 373.415 FS. History–New 9-16-92, Amended 8-17-94, 6-8-95, 1-17-96, 8-20-96, 10-20-96, 11-4-98, 6-27-00, 2-13-01, 3-19-02, 5-12-03, 11-10-03, 1-12-04, 2-1-06, 12-3-06, 5-10-07, 5-24-07, 1-11-10, 8-22-13, 4-3-14, 11-25-14, 12-31-14, 1-31-16 (4)(aaa), 1-31-16 (4)(ssss),                   .

 

NAME OF PERSON ORIGINATING PROPOSED RULE: Tom Mayton, Sr. Assistant General Counsel, St. Johns River Water Management District, Office of General Counsel, 4049 Reid Street, Palatka, Florida 32177, [phone] or [e-mail], and Karen Ferguson, Assistant General Counsel, St. Johns River Water Management District, 4049 Reid Street, Palatka, Florida 32177, [phone] or [e-mail].

NAME OF AGENCY HEAD WHO APPROVED THE PROPOSED RULE: Governing Board of the St. Johns River Water Management District.

DATE PROPOSED RULE APPROVED BY AGENCY HEAD: December 13, 2016

DATE NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULE DEVELOPMENT PUBLISHED IN FAR: October 12, 2016