Water-use plan faces opposition

A proposal that would make it easier to move water from rural North Florida to the state's urban south comes under fire at a hearing in Boca Raton.
BY CURTIS MORGAN
cmorgan@herald.com

The problem isn't too little water, it's too many people.

That was one of the big messages delivered Tuesday as state lawmakers sought public reaction to a plan from a powerful business group that sees the solution to South Florida's water worries in the deep underground reserves of the rural north.

''We can talk about water supply, water quality, conservation until the cows come home,'' said Elisabeth Falcone, a teacher at Wilton Manors Elementary School. ``The bottom line is: too many people.''

The hearing at Florida Atlantic University's campus in Boca Raton drew more than 75 people, including many from environmental groups who branded the plan a blueprint for unchecked growth.

They added to the mounting statewide criticism of proposals by the Florida Council of 100 to develop a market-driven water management system that the business leaders say would benefit the environment and the economy.

Earlier in the day, the Broward County Commission joined nearly 30 other counties in passing a resolution opposing the plan, saying they object to any legislation that shifts water use from a ``publicly regulated process to a market-driven process.''

''It would seem to me that it's nothing more than a smoke screen to pit the north and south against each other so they can go in and begin to privatize,'' Broward Commissioner Kristin Jacobs told the Senate Natural Resources Committee. ``The south doesn't want the north's water.''

Jacobs said Broward hopes to convince its colleagues in Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties to pass similar resolutions. Roman Gastesi Jr., Miami-Dade's water resources director, said the county was still evaluating the report.

The Florida Council of 100 is a private group of business, development and farming interests that advises governors. Its report, released last month, proposes a dramatic overhaul of what it called the state's ''crisis-driven'' water management bureaucracy. Its recommendations:

• Create a statewide water board, which would be appointed by the governor, to oversee five existing regional water management districts.

• Improve water science.

• Develop and expedite technologies that will tap new sources.

• Increase incentives for private industries to enter the water market.

• Study the possibility of transfering water from ''water-rich'' to ''water-poor'' areas.

This last recommendation, particularly controversial, means sparsely populated rural and northern counties could serve as reservoirs for urban areas that are facing increasing water shortages.

Herald staff writer Erika Bolstad contributed to this report.
 

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