STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

IN RE: )

) APPLICATION NO. 24457 BY ED W. )

WORTHINGTON FOR AGRICULTURAL ) CASE NO. 75-1633 WATER USE PERMITS - DOCKET NO. 56 )

)

RECOMMENDED ORDER

Pursuant to proper notice, an administrative hearing was held before Diane

1. Tremor, Hearing Officer, Division of Administrative Hearings, on September 11, 1975, in the Flood Control District Auditorium at 901 Evernia Street, West Palm Beach, Florida.

   
   

   APPEARANCES

   For Applicant: Mr. Ed W. Worthington, Applicant For Central John Wheeler, Esquire

   and Southern and Florida Flood Bruce L. Cutright

   Control District: Hydrology Division

   
   

   FINDINGS OF FACT

   
   

   1. Application No. 24457 requests the annual diversion, by means of the installation of two wells approximately 8 inches in diameter and 40 feet deep, of 940 acre-feet of ground water for supplemental irrigation of two parcels of land totaling 500 acres. This land is used for growing hay. Received into evidence without objection were the notice of public hearing appearing in The Palm Beach Post, West Palm Beach, Florida, the application in question and the Staff Report of the Central and Southern Florida Flood Control District (FCD), prepared by Bruce L. Cutright with the Hydrology Division of the FCD. The Staff Report, attached hereto, recommended the approval of the application for 600 acre-feet per year subject to certain conditions.

      
      

   2. At the beginning of the hearing, Mr. Worthington, the applicant, stipulated to the Staff Report and did not present any evidence on his own behalf. Mr. Bruce Cutright was called as a witness by the FCD and testified that he prepared the Staff Report and testified as to its contents.

      
      

   3. Mr. Cutright reviewed the subject application and determined that agricultural production and irrigation is a reasonable and beneficial use. In determining the actual annual water requirements needed, Mr. Cutright compared three numbers and selected the smallest of the three as the allocable amount. The three compared were the amount requested by the applicant, the FCD's estimate of the amount of recharge entering the shallow aquifer on the applicant's property, and the supplemental crop requirement for hay. It was determined that the water crop for the 500 acres in question is 14.4 inches, or 600 acre-feet or 195.5 million gallons per year. It was recommended that the maximum monthly withdrawal be 211.5 acre-feet or 68.9 million gallons. This

      amount was based upon the crop requirement during the driest month of a 2 in 10 year drought, assuming an 80 percent irrigation efficiency. The recommendations further included a maximum installed capacity of two wells with a combined capability of 3,500 gpm, with the applicant to submit well completion reports and detailed information on each well immediately upon completion; monthly records of pumpage to the FCD once a year at the end of each irrigation season and that the permit expire on October 15, 1978.

      
      

      CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

      
      

   4. The applications at issue herein have been fully reviewed and evaluated by the technical staff of the Central and South Florida Flood Control District.

      
      

   5. The procedural-requirements of Ch. 373, Florida Statutes, and the rules promulgated pursuant thereto have been

      complied with as they pertain to this application.

      
      

   6. The reports of the applicant and of the FCD, as well as the testimony presented at the hearing, reflect recommended uses which are reasonable and beneficial, will not interfere with any legal use of water and are consistent with the public interest, all in accordance with chapter 373 of the Florida Statutes and Chapter 16K of the Florida Administrative Code.

RECOMMENDATION

Based upon the above findings of fact and conclusions of law, it is recommended that Application No. 24457 be granted and that a permit be issued in accordance with the recommendations set forth in the Staff Report, attached hereto.

Respectfully submitted this 7th day of October, 1975, in Tallahassee, Florida.

DIANE D. TREMOR

Hearing Officer

Division of Administrative Hearings The DeSoto Building

1230 Apalachee Parkway

Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1550

(904) 488-9675

Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 7th day of October, 1975.

COPIES FURNISHED:

John Wheeler, Esquire Attorney for the Central and Southern Florida Flood Control District

Post Office Box V

West Palm Beach, Florida

Mr. Ed W. Worthington Route 3, Box 239A

Lake Worth, Florida 33460

Docket for Case No: 75-001633

Orders for Case No: 75-001633