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Comparison of 2015 and 2016 Proposed Water Policy Legislation

The proclaimed 2015 "Year of Water" came to an abrupt halt when the Florida House of Representatives suddenly ended the 2015 annual session with three days left on the calendar, leaving a number of bills, including the much debated general water policy bills HB7003 and SB 918 (2015) on the table. The House and Senate had grown close to reaching a consensus bill, but the House’s early adjournment ended any hopes of passing a general water policy bill in the 2015 session.


The 2016 legislative session is now off to a fast start with both the House and Senate proposing identical water policy bills with HB 7005 and SB 552 (2016) (hereafter collectively referred to as the “2016 Legislation”). Given the identical nature of these bills, a consensus water policy bill will likely be passed in the early stages of the 2016 session. While these bills are very similar to the 2015 proposals, there are several changes that should be noted.

One of the key changes is the deletion of the SB 918 (2015) language establishing a Florida Water Advisory Council to oversee state funding of water resource projects and related budget and funding provisions involving the proposed Council. Instead, the 2016 Legislation requires the Office of Economic and Demographic Research to conduct an annual assessment of water resources and conservation lands. This assessment must include a variety of considerations, including assessments of historical and current expenditures and projections and estimates of future expenditures.

Another significant change is the deletion of a provision in the 2015 legislation requiring the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) create and maintain a web-based, interactive map identifying water restoration and protection programs and projects by watershed or water body across Florida. Instead, the 2016 Legislation only requires the DEP evaluate the feasibility and cost of creating and maintaining such a web-based interactive map.

The 2016 Legislation also includes new requirements relating to regional water supply planning. First, the 2016 Legislation requires the water resource development component of a water management district’s regional water supply plan to include (1) a listing of water resource development projects that support water supply development for all existing and future reasonable-beneficial uses and for the natural systems identified in the recovery and prevention strategies for adopted minimum flows and levels (“MFLs”) or water reservations, and (2) for each listed project, an estimate of the amount of water to become available through the project for all existing and future reasonable-beneficial uses and for the natural systems identified in the recovery and prevention strategies for adopted MFLs or water reservations. The 2016 Legislation also requires 1) an assessment of how the regional water supply plan and identified projects in the funding plan support the recovery or prevention strategies for implementation of adopted MFLs or water reservations while 2) ensuring that sufficient water will be available for all existing and future reasonable-beneficial uses and the natural systems identified in the regional water supply plan, and 3) avoiding the adverse effects of competition for water supplies.

Most of the 2016 Legislation extends deadlines from the 2015 legislation by one year to account for the delay in adoption. However, as currently written, the 2016 Legislation imposes the same deadlines for adopting MFLs and associated recovery/prevention strategies, delineation of priority focus areas, and completion of assessments for Outstanding Florida Springs as proposed in the 2015 legislation.

While both the 2015 and 2016 Legislation include a new permit condition imposing monitoring and reporting requirements for new consumptive use permits, or the renewal or modification of a consumptive use permit that authorizes withdrawals of 100,000 gallons or more per day, the 2016 Legislation adds additional language restricting the monitoring and reporting requirement to wells with an inside diameter of 8 inches or more. This restriction will likely result in the exclusion of many self-suppliers from the new monitoring and reporting requirements.

The 2016 Legislation includes new legislative findings that each pilot project selected as part of the pilot program for alternative water supply development in restricted allocation areas provides water supply and environmental benefits. It further finds that consideration should be given to projects that provide reductions in damaging discharges to tide or that are part of a recovery or prevention strategy for MFLs.

Finally, the 2016 Legislation also clarifies that emergency rules required as part of the 2015 and 2016 Legislation for adopting Outstanding Florida Springs MFLs and associated recovery/prevention strategies shall remain in effect during the pendency of procedures to adopt rules addressing the subject of the emergency rules. The practical effect of this change is that under the 2015 legislation the new MFLs adopted through emergency rulemaking would have only remained in effect for 90 days, unless the WMD had commenced normal rulemaking and there was a legal challenge pending against the permanent rule. Under the 2016 Legislation language, the emergency MFLs will remain in effect indefinitely as long as the WMDs are engaged in rulemaking, a process that could take 12 months or more factoring in rule challenges.

Our firm will remain involved in monitoring proposed legislation including the general water policies discussed herein throughout the 2016 legislative session. If you have any questions regarding this or any other legislation, please feel free to contact Edward de la Parte (edelaparte@dgfirm.com), Nicolas Porter (nporter@dgfirm.com) or Kristin Melton (kmelton@dgfirm.com).