The St. Johns River Water Management District ("SJRWMD") is one of five Florida water management districts that is responsible for managing groundwater and surface water resources in Florida. SJRWMD covers an 18-county region in northeast and east-central Florida.[1] The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has general supervisory authority over the water management districts.
It employs approximately 700 people at offices in Palatka, Jacksonville, Altamonte Springs and Palm Bay. The district's headquarters is located in Palatka.
The budget for 2009-10 was $279.2 million.[2]
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The five water management districts were established in 1972 by Chapter 373, Florida Statutes, as independent special districts and were empowered by the electorate in 1976 to assess ad valorem taxes to fund the management of the state’s water resources, and related land resources, to benefit people and the environment.[3] Each water management district is administered by a Governing Board composed of residents appointed by the Governor and approved by the Florida Senate.[4] The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has general supervisory authority over the water management districts.[5]
SJRWMD’s duties include:
It also controls burns within that area.[9]
The counties which are entirely within SJRWMD are: Brevard, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Indian River, Lake, Marion, Nassau, Orange, St. Johns, Seminole, Putnam, and Volusia. Partial counties include: Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Okeechobee, and Osceola, [10] SJRWMD covers 12,283 square miles (31,813 km²), or 23 percent of Florida. As of 2005, 4.4 million people (about 21 percent of the state’s population) made their home in SJRWMD.
The major river of the district is the St. Johns River. The two major tributaries are Econlockhatchee River and the Ocklawaha River. Minor tributaries include the Wekiva River, Doctors Lake, Black Creek, Trout River (Florida) and a dozen smaller water bodies.
Potable water has been a problem in the western US since the mid-1950s, but was not an obvious issue in Florida, where lakes, springs and rivers seem to be everywhere. Population and economic growth in the state has created demand for more water than can be sustained by groundwater sources alone and alternative water sources must be developed. While the St. Johns River Water Management District must ensure that there is water for all reasonable-beneficial water uses, it is also charged with protecting water supplies and the related natural systems.[11]
In its draft 2008 Water Supply Assessment, the St. Johns River Water Management District identifies most of the counties in its jurisdiction as priority water resource caution areas or potential priority water resource caution areas. The District is working with local governments and utilities to ensure sustainable water supplies.[12]
In 2010, the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida (Orange and Seminole Counties) ruled that Deseret Ranches owned and had control over the Taylor Creek Reservoir. The district wanted to increase the draw from 10,000,000 US gallons (38,000,000 l; 8,300,000 imp gal) to upwards of 25,000,000 US gallons (95,000,000 l; 21,000,000 imp gal) daily.[13] In 2011, this decision was reversed on appeal to the Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal.[14]