Several frost/freeze issues were brought to the SWFWMD at a June 29 board meeting.  Here are some of the main highlights:

-The frost/freeze committee stated that the remaining outstanding well complaints that fell outside of the mitigation area would be addressed in the next few days

-The new well construction standards for the expanded Dover/Plant City area will tentatively go into effect in August (these standards were presented and passed by the Board at the May meeting)

-The Board concurred with staff’s recommendation for a more equitable distribution of well mitigation responsibility amongst the permit holders.  The frost/freeze committee has devised an allocation procedure utilizing a model that can calculate the drawdown in the aquifer by each permit based on the location of the reported dry well.  The new allocation procedure for future well complaints will now also be based on the permit holder’s frost/freeze allocation volumes as a percentage of the entire crop protection allocation that is available to the Dover and Plant City area (which is approximately 1 billion GPD).  The new process will eliminate the possibility of assigning the majority of complaints to only a few permit holders.  The committee verified the effectiveness of the proposed mitigation allocation procedure by modeling this year’s past freeze event to compare and to ensure equitable results.  Here are the results of the modeling:

            Total # of permit holders assigned

Responsibility during this year’s freeze:   61

Total # of permit holders assigned

Responsibility per proposed model:         460

Maximum # of complaints assigned

To one permit holder during the freeze:     120

Maximum # of complaints assigned

To one permit holder per proposed

Model:                                                  16

-The Board concurred with staff’s recommendation pertaining to enhanced communication regarding future freeze events.  This included a reverse call system for the most impacted area (approx. 256 sq mi of the Dover/Plant City area) when the District predicts the water table will get drawn down below a certain threshold and also a link on the District’s website providing instructions on how to report a dry well

-The Board concurred with staff’s recommendation requiring all permits within the Dover/Plant City area with crop protection allocations to be equipped with automated meter reading systems.  The district would pay for both the meter and installation.  As a technical invitee, FFVA provided comments to the frost/freeze committee requesting that the District additionally pay for the required meter monitoring service.  The District is strongly considering this request.

-The Board concurred with staff’s recommendation regarding the proposed groundwater cap, which is still currently being drafted.  The aim of the cap is to reduce groundwater withdrawals for crop protection within the affected area by 20%.  New permits within the area would be required to depend on groundwater alternatives for crop protection.   Additionally, the FARMS program will provide up to 75% of the eligible costs for equipment associated with crop-protection alternatives (as opposed to groundwater pumpage).  As a technical invitee, FFVA provided comments         to the frost/freeze committee requesting that the draft rule protect and uphold current permit frost/freeze allocations for existing operations during permit succession (from one family member to another) and transference during property and operation sale.  During the Board meeting, Dave Moore, executive director of SWFWMD, stated that existing permits within the affected area would retain their allocations during permit succession and property sale.  The committee will return to the Board in July to seek final approval and initiate rule making regarding the groundwater cap.  Additional tentative meetings with stakeholders are slated to take place in July and August.  Rule adoption is slated for November.