Water Management District Trying Its Best

Since the creation of Florida's five water management districts in 1972, there has developed a remarkable sense of professionalism and responsibility rarely matched in other state agencies. In the 1970's, my first job fresh out of design school was working as a park designer for the Florida Division of Recreation and Parks. At that job there was ample opportunity to work with the new water management districts throughout the state since many of Florida's state parks are located on or near major water bodies.

There were several questions left unanswered concerning the sewage treatment plant proposed for the Cedar Key Plantation development, so a nice drive up to the Suwannee River Water Management District headquarters in Live Oak was a pleasant run for the old truck. To see the simple yet well-designed headquarters buildings set back in the woods on SR 49 let you know you were still in North Central Florida, and not a concrete jungle that has consumed most of the rest of our state. The personnel at the headquarters were most helpful and answered all my questions without trying to dodge responsibility or "spin" the answers to some difficult questions about the Cedar Key Plantation proposal.

The operative word here is RESPONSIBILITY.

The water management district is responsible for keeping Florida's waters as clean as possible. The Suwannee River Valley has the cleanest water in the state, which is a measure of the effectiveness of the districts activities. However, the creative effort to cobble together a solution for the proposed wastewater treatment plant at the Cedar Key Plantation is testing the limits of the water management districts authority. Since all the other local governmental entities have abandoned their responsibilities the full weight of the solution has been bravely shouldered by the SRWMD and their Executive Director Jerry Scarborough. However after a close analysis of the facts it appears they will not be able to do it on their own and, without the county and the City of Cedar Key getting involved, the use of septic tanks at the site continues to be a real possibility.

The main sticking point to the proposal moving ahead is the Levy County ordinance, which does not allow a private plant to be built outside a municipality. There is good reason for this ordinance. In the past the county has been forced by state law to take over the operation and expense of maintaining two defunct private sewage plants, which is almost a full time job for one county employee.

In a conversation with Levy County Commission Chairman Tony Parker on Tuesday, Mr. Parker was adamant that the county should not have to pay for or operate this proposed plant at Cedar Key Plantation if the private managers fail in their duties. Mr. Parker is well aware that the county government is the only entity the state can force to take up this responsibility, and therefore he is probably not going to approve this proposal. Mr. Parker admits that the other commissioners were very impressed by the SRWMD getting directly involved. But the fine print on the agreement has yet to be drafted and even by the SRWMD's admission in a letter to the Cedar Key News dated June 24, 2002, "The Suwannee River Water Management District will not take full responsibility for the operation of a sewage treatment facility if the developer or home owners association fails to operate the plant properly." The reason for this is that the Florida statute 373, which is the enabling legislation for the district, does not give the water management district any taxing authority for a water or sewer utility system. The only two entities that have that local authority are the county government and the Cedar Key Water Board.

The letter from the District also states, "The property owners association and developer, Rick Thompson, will be responsible for providing an adequate security bond to ensure the successful continuation of a wastewater treatment facility." The two problems with that response are, first, the plant will continue to operate most likely for decades. When the security bond money runs out, what then? The second problem is that this entire discussion is about the future possibility of the private operators failing and someone other than them being forced to take up that responsibility. If the SRWMD is not allowed by law to do so and the only entity that can be forced by law to take up the operation and expense is the county, then we can see why Commissioner Parker is very weary of the whole proposal. When asked about the commitment from the water management district to shoulder this burden, Mr. Parker said that he was concerned that "five years down the road everyone will have forgotten about the details." The SRWMD letter also states, "Levy County will bear no responsibility for the expense or operation of the facility." The problem with this statement is that the Florida Department of Environmental Protection has the authority to force the county to take that responsibility, not the SRWMD. There is no way for the water district to let the county off the hook if the DEP orders the county to take up those responsibilities as they have done in two cases already.

This leaves us back at square one. Who will step up and take responsibility for this sewage plant at the Cedar Key Plantation if the private owners fail? To leave this question unanswered may very well result in septic tanks at the project, which must be avoided in order to protect the waters around Cedar Key. The SRWMD is doing everything they possibility can and Mr. Scarborough is putting forth a tremendous effort to keep septic tanks out of that development, but he will not be able to do it alone. The effluent from those septic tanks will not respect the artificial line that the folks at Cedar Key draw at bridge number four.

The operative word here is responsibility.