62-40.210. Definitions

When used in this chapter and in the review of rules of the Districts pursuant to Section 373.114(2), F.S., unless the context or content of such District rule requires a narrower, more specific meaning, the following words shall mean:

(1) “Aquifer” shall mean a geologic formation, group of formations, or part of a formation that contains sufficient saturated permeable material to yield useful quantities of ground water to wells, springs or surface water.

(2) “Basin Management Action Plan” means the document that sets forth the activities, schedule, and funding sources by which point and nonpoint dischargers will reduce pollutants discharged to impaired waters and meet the total maximum daily load established for those waters.

(3) “Conservation rate structure” means a schedule of utility water rates designed to promote efficient use of water by providing economic incentives.

(4) “Consumptive use means any use of water which reduces the supply from which it is withdrawn or diverted.

(5) “Department” means the Department of Environmental Protection.

(6) “Designated use” means the present and future most beneficial use of a body of water pursuant to the water quality classification system in Rule 62-302.400, F.A.C.

(7) “Detention” means the delay of stormwater runoff prior to its discharge.

(8) “District” means a water management district created pursuant to Section 373.069, F.S.

(9) “District Water Management Plan” is defined in Section 373.019, F.S.

(10) “Drought rate structure” means an element of a utility rate structure intended to provide an economic incentive to reduce water use during times of drought.

(11) “Floodplain” means land area subject to inundation by flood waters from a river, watercourse, lake, or coastal waters. Floodplains are delineated according to their estimated frequency of flooding.

(12) “Florida Water Plan” is defined in Section 373.019, F.S.

(13) “Governing Board” means the governing board of a water management district created under Section 373.069, F.S.

(14) “Ground water” means water beneath the surface of the ground, whether or not flowing through known and definite channels.

(15) “Ground water basin” means a ground water flow system that has defined boundaries and may include permeable materials that are capable of storing or furnishing a significant water supply. The basin includes both the surface area and the permeable materials beneath it.

(16) “High recharge areas” means areas contributing significant volumes of water which add to the storage and flow of an aquifer through vertical movement from the land surface. The term significant will vary geographically depending on the hydrologic characteristics of that aquifer.

(17) “Informative billing” means a system of providing water utility customers with useful information on the relationship between the amount of water they use and the cost associated with that use. Examples of the information include the utility’s rate structure, amount of water used in the current month, amount of water used in the previous month, amount of water used in the same month of the previous year, information on the average usage of all customers in the same customer class, seasonal rates and applicable months, drought rates, information on conserving water, or other information deemed appropriate by the utility.

(18) “Impact Offset” is defined in Section 373.250, F.S.

(19) “Impaired water” means a water body or water body segment that does not meet one or more of its designated uses due in whole or in part to discharges of pollutants, and has been listed as impaired by order of the Secretary in accordance with the procedures set forth in Chapter 62-303, F.A.C.

(20) “Natural systems” for the purpose of this rule means an ecological system supporting aquatic and wetland-dependent natural resources, including fish and aquatic and wetland-dependent wildlife habitat.

(21) “Pollutant load reduction goal,” or PLRG, means estimated numeric reductions in pollutant loadings, usually established in a Surface Water Improvement and Management or other watershed management plan, that are needed to preserve or restore designated uses of receiving bodies of water and maintain water quality consistent with applicable state water quality standards. In some cases, PLRGs may provide the scientific basis for the development of a Total Maximum Daily Load.

(22) “Potable quality water offset” means the amount of potable quality water (Class F-I, G-I, or G-II ground water or water meeting drinking water standards) saved through the use of reclaimed water expressed as a percentage of the total reclaimed water used. The potable quality water offset is calculated by dividing the amount of potable water saved by the amount of reclaimed water used and multiplying the quotient by 100.

(23) “Prime recharge areas” means areas that are generally within high recharge areas and are significant to present and future ground water uses including protection and maintenance of natural systems and water supply.

(24) “Reasonable-beneficial use” is defined in Section 373.019, F.S.

(25) “Recharge fraction” means the portion of reclaimed water used in a reuse system that recharges an underlying potable quality ground water (Class F-I, G-I, or G-II ground water) that is used for potable supply, or augments a Class I surface water, expressed as a percentage of the total reclaimed water used.

(26) “Reclaimed water,” except as specifically provided in Chapter 62-610, F.A.C., means water that has received at least secondary treatment and basic disinfection, and is reused after flowing out of a domestic wastewater treatment facility.

(27) “Regional water supply plan” is defined in Section 373.019, F.S.

(28) “Retention” means the prevention of stormwater runoff from direct discharge.

(29) “Reuse” means the deliberate application of reclaimed water, in compliance with Department and District rules, for a beneficial purpose.

(30) “Reuse Utility” means a utility that produces reclaimed water or distributes reclaimed water to end users.

(31) “Seasonal rate structure” means a utility water rate structure in which the amount charged per unit of water increases during the peak demand season.

(32) “Secretary” means the Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection.

(33) “State water quality standards” means water quality standards adopted by the Environmental Regulation Commission pursuant to Chapter 403, F.S., including standards composed of designated most beneficial uses (classification of waters), the numerical and narrative criteria applied to the specific water use or classification, the Florida anti-degradation policy (Rules 62-4.242 and 62-302.300, F.A.C.), and the moderating provisions contained in Chapters 62-4, 62-302, 62-520, and 62-550, F.A.C.

(34) “Stormwater” means the water that results from a rainfall event.

(35) “Stormwater management program” is defined in Section 403.031, F.S.

(36) “Stormwater management system” is defined in Section 373.403, F.S.

(37) “Stormwater recycling” means capturing stormwater for irrigation or other beneficial use.

(38) “Stormwater utility” is defined in Section 403.031, F.S.

(39) “Substitution credit” means the use of reclaimed water to replace all or a portion of an existing permitted use of resource-limited surface water or groundwater, allowing a different user or use to initiate a withdrawal or increase its withdrawal from the same resource-limited surface water or groundwater source provided that the withdrawal creates no net adverse impact on the limited water resource or creates a net positive impact if required by district rule as part of a strategy to protect or recover a water resource.

(40) “Supplementation of a reclaimed water system” or “supplementation” means the addition of water by a reuse utility from another source to reclaimed water supplies.

(41) “Surface water” is defined in Section 373.019, F.S.

(42) “Total maximum daily load,” or TMDL, is defined in Section 403.031, F.S.

(43) “Water resource caution area” means a geographic area identified by a District as having existing water resource problems or an area in which water resource problems are projected to develop during the next twenty years.

(44) “Water” or “waters in the state” is defined in Section 373.019, F.S.

(45) “Watershed” is defined in Section 373.403, F.S.

(46) “Watershed management goal” means an overall goal for the management of water resources within a watershed.

Rulemaking Authority 373.026(7), 373.036, 373.043, 373.171 FS. Law Implemented 373.019, 373.023, 373.026, 373.036, 373.0395, 373.042, 373.0421, 373.046, 373.047, 373.103, 373.106, 373.114, 373.145, 373.171, 373.175, 373.203, 373.223, 373.246, 373.250, 373.403, 373.418, 373.451, 373.453, 403.031, 403.0615(3), 403.064, 403.067, 403.0891 FS. History–New 5-5-81, Formerly 17-40.02, Amended 12-5-88, Formerly 17-40.020, Amended 8-14-90, 12-17-91, Formerly 17-40.210, Amended 7-20-95, 5-7-05, 5-6-13, 5-3-14.