Report on Expansion of Beneficial Use of Reclaimed Water, Stormwater and Excess Surface Water (Senate Bill 536) Office of Water Policy Florida Department of Environmental Protection December 1, 2015 3900 Commonwealth Boulevard, MS 41 Tallahassee, Florida 32399-3000 www.dep.state.fl.us SB536 Study Report TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................ 2 TABLES ..................................................................................................................................................... 4 FIGURES .................................................................................................................................................... 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................................ 6 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................ 7 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................ 11 1.1 Purpose and Goals of the Study ................................................................................................. 11 1.2 Requirements of Senate Bill 536 ................................................................................................ 11 1.3 Study Process and Stakeholder Involvement ............................................................................. 12 1.4 Report Structure ......................................................................................................................... 13 2 RECLAIMED WATER .................................................................................................................... 14 2.1 Background ................................................................................................................................ 14 2.2 Regulatory Structure for Reclaimed Water ................................................................................ 16 2.3 Current Status of Use of Reclaimed Water ................................................................................ 19 2.4 State and WMD Investments in Reclaimed Water..................................................................... 25 2.5 Analysis of Types of Reuse ........................................................................................................ 26 2.6 Summary of Reclaimed Water Impediments and Constraints ................................................... 29 2.7 Recommendations ...................................................................................................................... 36 3 STORMWATER............................................................................................................................... 42 3.1 Background ................................................................................................................................ 42 3.2 Stormwater for Water Supply .................................................................................................... 45 3.3 Challenges to Expanding Beneficial Uses ................................................................................. 49 3.4 Recommendations ...................................................................................................................... 51 4 EXCESS SURFACE WATER ......................................................................................................... 56 4.1 Summary of State and National Trends for Surface Water Use ................................................ 56 4.2 Potential Future Surface Water Supply ...................................................................................... 61 4.3 Environmental Considerations ................................................................................................... 65 4.4 Impediments or Constraints to Expansion ................................................................................. 66 4.5 Case Study in Surface Water Solutions-Tampa Bay Water ....................................................... 70 4.6 Recommendations ...................................................................................................................... 71 5 WATER STORAGE ......................................................................................................................... 76 5.1 Background ................................................................................................................................ 76 2 SB536 Study Report 5.2 Reservoirs ................................................................................................................................... 77 5.3 Aquifer Storage and Recovery / Aquifer Recharge ................................................................... 83 5.4 Dispersed Water Management ................................................................................................... 89 6 REGIONAL ANALYSIS ................................................................................................................. 95 6.1 Northwest Florida Water Management District (NWFWMD) .................................................. 95 6.2 Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) ....................................................... 103 6.3 St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD) ....................................................... 109 6.4 South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) ............................................................ 119 6.5 Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) ................................................. 133 7 SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS ............................................. 145 7.1 Statewide Recommendations ................................................................................................... 145 7.2 Regional Analysis by Water Management District .................................................................. 156 8 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................... 157 APPENDIX A: SENATE BILL 536..................................................................................................... 163 APPENDIX B: ACRONYMS ............................................................................................................... 165 APPENDIX C: PUBLIC INPUT .......................................................................................................... 167 Appendix C-1: Public Input Overview .............................................................................................. 167 Appendix C2: Survey ......................................................................................................................... 169 Appendix C-3: Survey Respondent Characteristics ........................................................................... 174 Appendix C-4: Ranking and Importance by Survey Topic ............................................................... 176 Appendix C-5: Survey Essay Themes ............................................................................................... 185 APPENDIX D: RECLAIMED WATER ............................................................................................... 195 Appendix D-1: Summary of Key Statutory Provisions ..................................................................... 195 Appendix D-2: Analysis of Types of Reuse ...................................................................................... 203 Appendix D-3: Examples of Reclaimed Water Projects .................................................................... 220 APPENDIX E: EXISTING AND PROPOSED RESERVOIRS ........................................................... 227 Appendix E-1: SWFWMD Reservoir Inventory ............................................................................... 227 Appendix E-2: SJRWMD Reservoir Inventory: ................................................................................ 228 Appendix E-3: SFWMD Reservoir Inventory: .................................................................................. 228 Appendix E-4: SRWMD Reservoir Inventory: .................................................................................. 230 Appendix E-5: NWFWMD Reservoir Inventory:.............................................................................. 230 3 SB536 Study Report TABLES Table 2.1: Relative Desirability of Reuse Activities ............................................................................... 22 Table 2.2: Summary of Funding by the Water Management Districts and DEP for Reclaimed Water Projects over the Past Ten Years .............................................................................................................. 28 Table 2.3: Comparative Costs within the SJRWMD for Traditional and Alternative Water Supplies ... 30 Table 2.4: Comparative Costs within the SJRWMD for Potable Reuse*................................................ 30 Table 5.1: Offline Surface Water Reservoir Costs and Land Requirements ........................................... 80 Table 7.1: Recommendations by Water Source and Storage ................................................................. 146 Table C1.1: Survey Results -- Most Important Issues by Category .....................................................