Who Controls the Water?

With water resources increasingly strained, government bodies and individuals across the country are clashing over who controls water access and use. Several decisions across the country will be affecting the quantity and price of water available to landscape professionals in the near future. Photo: Lee & Roe, Inc.

The city of Ocala, Fla., is contesting restrictions the St. Johns River Management District may impose restricting landscape irrigation with reclaimed water to no more than twice a week.

The goal is to promote water conservation, but the proposed restriction poses two problems for the city.

Although the cost for reclaimed water is a third of regular tap water, the city is afraid usage restrictions may turn people away from the resource, said Henry Hicks, director of the city’s water and sewer services. Additionally, he said, the restriction would force the city to spend millions of dollars to increase its reclaimed water storage capacity.

Port Orange, also in the St. Johns River Management District, City Council members recently voted unanimously to oppose the water management district’s proposed rules.

The Volusia Council of Governments is also talking about resisting the proposed rules. Water management officials plan a public hearing in November and a vote in December on the plan.

In Spartanburg, S.C., the City Council recently voted unanimously to support changes to its storm water ordinance to comply with state and federal laws. The new ordinance addresses public education, public involvement, storm water runoff from construction sites, runoff from post-construction activities, methods to detect illicit discharge and elimination, pollution prevention and record-keeping for operations.

A new Storm Water Appeal Board will be formed and appointed to consider appeals from those affected by the regulations and municipal court will have jurisdiction over those violating the ordinance.

A large-scale water extraction ordinance will go before Shapleigh, Maine voters at an upcoming special town meeting. The ordinance outlines the regulations a company applying to extract large amounts of water from the town’s wells would have to abide by.

Shapleigh Planning Board Chairman Roger Allaire said that the current ordinance for large scale water extraction in Shapleigh isn’t very strict. In addition to the ordinance in review, he said there will be a moratorium on water extraction included on the ballot in September. The moratorium would put a temporary hold on all water extraction in town, even if the new ordinance were not to pass, he said. If the ordinance, which is placed on the ballot before the moratorium, passes, then there will be no need to vote on the moratorium.

Finally, an ordinance that had required mandatory hookups to city water for residents of Haines City, Fla. was recently rescinded to be advertised and reconsidered at a later date.

Of primary concern in the debated ordinance is an impact fee that would be assessed residences for the installation of water meters on properties that don’t already have one. The local citizenry claims taxes already paid should finance the installation, while the city contends as a separate entity that city taxes don’t fund the water utilities, justifying the impact fee.

Sources: Ocala Star-Banner, Go Upstate.com, keepMEcurrent.com, NewChief.com, East Volusia news-journalonline.com.