The following letter was sent by the Florida Springs Council. This letter is about the DEP which is holding another public workshop inviting comment about the Outstanding Florida Springs rule.
The DEP feels it must hold public meetings about topics but then it just goes ahead and does what it wants to anyway.
We fools show up and complain and ask them to do their jobs, and they p0litely smile and thank us for coming and for our concern.
And then they continue to issue pumping permits, and lower the minimum flows, both of which damage our springs and rivers.
And they don’t fix our springs and rivers and things remain the same, except for more decline in our springs and rivers.
Forever and forever.
Comments by OSFR historian Jim Tatum.
jim.tatum@oursantaferiver.org
– A river is like a life: once taken,
it cannot be brought back © Jim Tatum
Heads up – This email may look familiar to you, and that’s because we sent almost the exact same email a year ago to mobilize advocates to DEP’s harm rule workshop in Gainesville. You might remember it – That’s when over 100 springs advocates showed up at the Alachua County Library to demand DEP follow the law and stop causing harm to our springs. Sadly, at the expense of our springs, nothing has changed in the last year because DEP continues to protect developers, polluters and industry leaders over the environment. And, now we’re asking advocates to join us again at DEP’s Outstanding Florida Springs Harm Rule Workshop on September 12.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) is hosting *another* public workshop regarding the Outstanding Florida Springs harm rule. This is our chance to hold the agency accountable for *still* not following the law and preventing harm to our springs.
Join the Florida Springs Council in Apopka on September 12th as we tell FDEP officials to stop draining our springs.
Dive Deeper:
If the Florida Department of Environmental Protection had actually done what the law required years ago, it would have stopped many consumptive use permits that harm our springs, including the Seven Springs bottling permit (“Nestle” permit) at Ginnie Springs.
The law (373.219(3), F.S.), signed by Governor Rick Scott in 2016, says that FDEP must “adopt uniform rules for issuing permits which prevent groundwater withdrawals that are harmful” to Outstanding Florida Springs.
But for eight years, FDEP has flagrantly disregarded the law and refused to propose statutorily required rules to protect Outstanding Florida Springs. In 2022, after more than six years of delay, FDEP finally proposed a draft rule. However, it was essentially the same as the rules already adopted for all water bodies in 2014. FDEP withdrew the proposed rule after opposition from FSC, Sierra Club FL and Senator David Simmons, the co-sponsor and author of the 2016 law.
The Florida Springs Council even wrote our own draft rule for DEP back in 2022. You can read our 2023 letter to FDEP and our proposed draft rule (attached to the appendix of the letter) here: https://www.floridaspringscouncil.org/single-post/letter-to-dep-from-the-florida-springs-council-re-rule-to-revent-permits-that-would-harm-springs
In 2023, FDEP came back with another proposed rule.
But, the only difference between the 2022 draft proposed rule and the 2023 draft proposed rule was one additional section, Section 62-41.403, which stated “Additional Protections Consistent with Local or Regional Conditions or Objectives.” Ironically, the section didn’t actually add “additional protections” nor did it require restricting allocations. The new section was an attempt to deceive the public by claiming “additional protections” that don’t actually exist in the rule. DEP, ultimately ended up withdrawing the proposed draft rule.
Today, DEP has announced another public workshop, and right now the Department has yet to release the proposed draft rule.
Advocates, you showed up this week for our state parks, and we’re asking you to keep the momentum going for our springs. The proposals to develop our State Parks were just another example of how DEP protects developers and polluters over the environment. The consistent delay and lack of a springs harm rule is the most egregious example of how DEP fails to follow the law and does not uphold its mission. We must stay vigilant and continue to hold DEP accountable.
We hope you can join us in Apopka on September 12. If you cannot make it, we will continue to provide updates as soon as we know what other actions can be taken. For now, we ask that you share this information in your community!
LOCATION: St. Johns River Water Management District Apopka Service Center (2501 S. Binion Road, Apopka, FL 32703)
For more information about this issue, check out our blog: https://www.floridaspringscouncil.org/single-post/how-dep-ignores-the-law-to-help-nestle-and-other-water-users
We will gather with advocates at Three Odd Guys Brewing (48 E 5th St, Apopka, FL 32703) following the workshop. Check out our Facebook event page for the latest updates: https://www.facebook.com/share/M349pdLuJm1b8UuU/
Thank you for speaking up for the springs,
Chloe Dougherty
Communications Director
Copyright (C) 2024 Florida Springs Council. All rights reserved.
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