Rocky Brushy Creek Watershed Mgmt. Plan (2007) -- Part 2

WATER SUPPLYsinkholes can occur as a result of natural geologic phenomena and by the influence of humanactivities including groundwater pumping, well construction, building construction, etc. TheRocky/Brushy Creek watershed is located in an area of “highest hazard” for sinkhole formation.The entire Northwest Hillsborough Watershed area lies within the Northern Tampa Bay Water UseCaution Area (NTBWUCA), an area that includes Pinellas County, western and centralHillsborough County, and western and southern Pasco County. This designation was created in1989 by the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) in response to the impactsobserved in connection with groundwater withdrawals and the anticipated future increases in waterdemand in the area. Through this designation, the District developed a resource assessment andrecovery strategy to be implemented through a combination of regulatory measures, conservationand supply projects, and voluntary compliance. The components of the assessment and recoverystrategy are enunciated in Rule 40D-8, Florida Administrative Code (F.A.C.) and included:• “All water use permittees within the Area are addressed by this Rule 40D-80.073, F.A.C.However, Tampa Bay Water …. facilities account for the majority of water withdrawalswithin the Area. For this reason, these facilities are the primary focus of the portion of therecovery strategy encompassed by this Rule 40D-80.073, F.A.C. Other users ….. areaddressed in 40D-80.073(5), F.A.C.”• “Recovery to Wetland and Lake Minimum Levels for wetlands and lakes described in andestablished in 40D-8 …. is the objective of this Rule 40D-80.073, F.A.C.”• “…the Floridan Aquifer Recovery Management Levels set forth in Table 80-1 below shall beused as long-term guidelines for allocating withdrawals within the Operations Plan,submitted to the District by TBW pursuant to the Agreement, and shall be reevaluated in2010.”• Based on that analysis and evaluation, on or before December 31, 2010, the District willinitiate rulemaking to revise the MFLs…as necessary; adopt rules to implement the existingor the New MFLs…; and incorporate a second phase to this Recovery Strategy.The Interim Recovery monitoring effort focuses on addressing other (non –Tampa Bay Water)water use, supplemental hydration of lakes and wetlands, and new applications for water use. Theportion of the District's recovery strategy embodied within this Rule is the first regulatory phase of along-term approach toward eventual attainment of the Minimum Flows and Levels Program goals.All users, including public water supply utilities, are required to incorporate conservation measuresas a means of reversing detrimental environmental trends such as lake level declines and adversewetland impacts. A number of planning efforts have been developed to protect and enhance watersupplies in the Northwest Hillsborough watersheds. These include:9-2 Rocky/Brushy Creek Watershed Management Plan