An ideal water protection bill would include legislation to address:

1. Sale of rights associated with water use permits.

2. Linking of a sustainable water supply to new development.

3. Strong support of development of alternative water sources.

4. Clarification of the legislation that created Tampa Bay Water.

1. CoPOWR believes that the sale of rights associated with consumptive/water use permits is not adequately addressed under current State water law. We believe that legislation is needed to prohibit the sale of rights associated with water use permits. We believe there is a fundamental difference between the use of water associated with a product such as bottled water and the sale of water productionrights granted by a water use permit. By virtue of their water use permit, a bottled water business is authorized to develop a water source. The Bottler adds value to the water by treating it and putting it in a bottle and then distributing the final product to consumers. The sale of water associated with a water use permit does not add any value to the water. The sale of water associated with a water use permit, is privatizing the ownership of the people’s water, and should not be allowed.

2. In Florida, growth drives our economy. In recognition of this fact of life, the State has been struggling to plan and regulate growth to prevent problems associated with growth exceeding our resources or infrastructure. We believe that stronger legislation is needed to link growth with the limits of water resources.

3. Because many parts of the State have already seen problems caused by taking too much water from our rivers and aquifers, we believe that it will be necessary to reduce our reliance on traditional ground and surface waters and increase our use of alternative sources of water such as desalinization and reclaimed water. We would like to see legislation that strongly encourages the development of alternative sources.

4. The reason that the legislature originally formed the West Coast Regional Water Supply Authority was to require Pinellas, Pasco, and Hillsborough counties to develop water without damaging the water environment. In the more than twenty years since it was formed, West Coast did not meet that legislative mandate, and caused significant damage to the environment by their pumping. In 1998, Tampa Bay Water was formed from West Coast to strengthen the legislature’s mandate to protect the environment. In the past five years, Tampa Bay Water has developed a tremendous quantity of new alternative sources to allow them to meet the legislative mandate to reduce pumping. However, in their most recent Master Water Planning effort, Tampa Bay Water has listed potential projects that would develop approximately 70 million gallons per day of new ground water. We believe that the intent of legislation that created Tampa Bay Water was to reduce ground-water pumping and these new ground-water projects would violate the spirit of that intent. We believe that the legislature should clarify the legislation that formed Tampa Bay Water to encourage Tampa Bay Water to reduce their reliance on ground water.