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Lake County water officials file petition to protect water flows, levels(Orlando Sentinel, The (FL) (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Jul. 12--TAVARES The Lake County Water Authority is taking legal action in its fight to protect the Harris Chain of Lakes from Central Florida's looming water shortage. It is trying to force the St. Johns River Water Management District to set minimum water levels on the chain before allowing Apopka to draw water from Lake Apopka to meet their needs. Ever-growing demands from development across the region are expected to outpace fresh groundwater supplies in the next five years, forcing local utilities to seek out alternative sources such as lakes and rivers to slake their thirst. The water-management district wants to allow Apopka to withdraw up to 1.8 billion gallons of water a year from Lake Apopka to use mostly for lawn irrigation in that city. To do that, however, the district aims to retain water in Lake Apopka by cutting in half the minimum flow of water that is allowed downstream through the Harris chain in north Lake County. Water also would be held back in another part of the Harris chain. The goal is to increase the average water level on Lake Apopka by 2.2 inches. But several lakes downstream would drop by a third of an inch. Lake Griffin would drop an average of 1.8 inches. The water authority last year objected to the Apopka withdrawal, arguing in part that the St. Johns did not follow proper procedures to establish minimum water flows and levels on the Harris chain. The sides have spent months negotiating. The water authority filed a petition this week with the St. Johns water district to force that agency to establish the required minimum water flow and lake levels for Apopka and the Harris chain before allowing withdrawals. Aside from working with the city of Apopka, St. Johns officials have encouraged other cities to pull water from the Harris and Clermont chains of lakes. The petition could delay Apopka's plans to withdraw millions of gallons from the lake. Eustis got a water permit from the St. Johns district that requires the city to consider pulling 730 million gallons a year from lakes Eustis and Yale in the Harris chain. The St. Johns also approved a permit that could allow Groveland to take up to 47 million gallons of water each year from Cherry Lake -- part of the Clermont chain -- in the next six years. Water authority officials argue that with the Harris chain, the St. Johns is sidestepping legal requirements to first establish how much the system can be affected without causing irreparable harm. "While the district is openly encouraging local governments to look to surface waters as an increasing part of providing 'alternative water supplies,' the lack of minimum flows and levels means there is no legal baseline as required [by state statute] to determine if taking more water from lakes and rivers in the area is harming natural resources," Mike Perry of the Lake water authority, wrote to St. Johns officials. St. Johns officials received the water authority's petition Wednesday. "We are evaluating it," agency spokesman Hank Largin said. Robert Sargent can be reached at [email protected] or 352-742-5909. To see more of The Orlando Sentinel or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.OrlandoSentinel.com. Copyright (c) 2008, The Orlando Sentinel, Fla. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |