Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Ontario. In fact, the water is a shared resource and not simply
a resource of either Ontario or Michigan. Such a claim illus-
trates the simplistic (or unsophisticated) thinking that all too
often passes for analysis of water issues—particularly water
Watershed Association in Massachusetts to government agencies
that have both power and fi nancial backing. South Florida Water
Management District is one of the latter, a regional governmen-
tal agency that handles water quality, fl ood control, water supply
(distribution), and environmental restoration in sixteen Florida
counties from Orlando in central Florida to the Florida Keys in
the south. Members of its governing board are the ones to humor
if anyone wants water in their jurisdiction. That principle applies
whether it's the Old Collier Golf Club in Naples, which in 2008
went looking for a water-shortage variance (an exception to water
restrictions) to keep its landscape fl ourishing (they got it),
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or the
city of St. Cloud and Orange County, which in 2007 sought a use
permit to withdraw surface water from East Lake Tohopekaliga in
the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes to meet “existing and future urban
irrigation demands” (they didn't get it). But stay tuned. That battle
isn't over. After appealing the ruling, St. Cloud did begin a water-
use plan project to fi nd alternative water sources, funded in part
with a hefty contribution from the district.
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SOUTH FLORIDA WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT
The South Florida Water Management District's governing board also
has led efforts to restore Florida's Everglades. In December 2008,
the district approved a $1.34 billion purchase of a minimum 180,000
acres in South Florida from U.S. Sugar Corporation in an effort to
stop pollution of the Everglades. But the deal ran up against budget
constraints. In May 2009, the deal had shrunk to 72,500 acres and
$530 million with the option to purchase more acreage later, and by
August 2010, it shrunk again, this time to $197 million for 26,800 acres
with options to buy more.
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