STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

IN RE: APPLICATION NUMBER 22103 ) BY H. S. AND GEORGIA E. ) CHESHIRE, FOR )

AGRICULTURAL WATER USE ) CASE NO. 75-1918 AND SURFACE WATER )

MANAGEMENT PERMIT - )

DOCKET NO. 75. )

)

RECOMMENDED ORDER

Pursuant to proper notice, an administrative hearing was held before Charles C. Adams, Hearing Officer, Division of Administrative Hearings, on October 9, 1975, at 7051 N. W. 4th Street, Plantation, Florida, in the Council Chambers.

APPEARANCES

For Applicant: H. S. Cheshire

717 Northeast 2nd Street Pompano Beach, Florida

Stephen Walker, Esquire Attorney for the Central and

Southern Florida Flood Control District Post Office Box V

West Palm Beach, Florida FINDINGS OF FACT

1. The subject application requests a permit from the Central and Southern Florida Flood Control District for the irrigation and drainage of 488 acres of land used for the purpose of growing string beans. The public notice of hearing appearing in The Fort Lauderdale News, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, which noticed the permit application submitted in behalf of H. S. and Georgia Cheshire, was received into evidence without objection.

   
   

2. Mr. Cheshire and Mr. Walker in behalf of the Central and Southern Florida Flood Control District stipulated to the introduction of the application and staff report of the Central and Southern Florida Flood Control District, without objection. It was further stipulated that the matters as contained in the application and staff report could be utilized as a basis for findings of fact and recommended order, without the necessity of putting on testimony in behalf of the applicant or the staff. Pursuant to that stipulation, oral testimony was not presented by the parties.

   
   

3. The amount of water requested by the applicant is 10,448.1 acre/feet per year and the applicant has further requested the right to operate a water management system consisting of ditches, levees, pumps and culverts as described in his application. The staff report recommends an annual allocation of surface water which is 421.7 acre/feet per year. The staff report further recommends

   that a Surface Water Management Permit be issued pursuant to application #22103, subject to certain conditions which follow in this statement of the facts.

   
   

4. Mr. Cheshire did not offer any further evidence beyond the application and the staff report in support of the request for permits for water use and surface water management.

   
   

5. On the question of the water use permit, Mr. Charles Allen Hall and Mr.

J. Richard Gregg, both of the Hydrology Division, Resource Planning Department, Central and Southern Florida Flood Control District felt that the allocation of

1. acre/feet of water per year should be subject to the following conditions:

   
   

   1. The maximum monthly withdrawal of surface water shall not exceed 1826.9 acre/feet (595.3 million gallons) during nematode control operations.

      
      

   2. The maximum monthly withdrawal of surface water shall not exceed 1416.6 acre/feet (461.6 million gallons) during the irrigation operations.

      
      

   3. Permittee shall submit reports of the total pumpages made during each nematode control flooding process and the length of time for process to the District at the end of each process.

      
      

   4. Permittee shall submit reports of monthly pumpages, made for irrigation purposes, to the Flood Control District at the end of each month during irrigation period.

      
      

   5. Withdrawal of surface water from the Hillsboro Canal shall be accomplished by means of 2 - 7500 gpm pumps and appurtenant works located approximately 2100 feet and 5300 feet west of S.R. 7 and south of S.R. 827.

      
      

   6. This permit shall expire on October 15, 1978.

      
      

   7. If the land use of this property should change, such a change shall constitute grounds for the immediate reevaluation of this permit.

1. Mr. Hall and Mr. Gregg felt that the Surface Water Management Permit should be granted subject to the following conditions:

   
   

   1. The discharge of runoff into the Hillsborogh Canal would be accomplished by means of the four existing culvert connections under State Road 827.

      
      

   2. Water quality reports for the water discharged from the permittee's property shall be submitted to the District as may be required. The report shall include analyses for the following parameters: Nitrates as N, Nitrites as N, Ammonia as N, total Kjeldahl nitrogen as N, total phosphorous as P, ortho- phosphorous as P, total dissolved solids, total suspended solids and 5 day, 200 degrees C BOD.

      
      

   3. If the land use of the permittee's property should change, such change will constitute grounds for an immediate reevaluation of his permit.

      
      

   4. If Broward County should construct a canal which in any way effects the permittee's surface water management system the construction of such would constitute grounds for an immediate reevaluation of this permit.

2. There were no persons at the hearing who wished to act as intervenors in the capacity of proponents or opponents of the application, nor were there any members of the general public, not party to the proceedings, who wished to comment on the application.

   
   

   CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

   
   

3. The application at issue herein has been fully reviewed and evaluated by the technical staff of the Central and Southern Florida Flood Control District.

   
   

4. The procedural requirements of Chapter 373, Florida Statutes, and the rules promulgated pursuant thereto have been complied with as they pertain to this application.

   
   

5. The application, to include exhibit , and the staff report of the Central and Southern Florida Flood Control District, reflect recommended uses which are reasonable and beneficial, and will not interfere with any legal use of water and are consistent with the public interest, all in accordance with Chapter 373, 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 the permit requested be issued in accordance with the recommendations set forth in the staff report (attached thereto).

Respectfully submitted this 31st day of October, 1975, in Tallahassee, Florida.

CHARLES C. ADAMS

Hearing Officer

Division of Administrative Hearings

530 Carlton Building Tallahassee, Florida 32304 (904) 488-9675

COPIES FURNISHED:

Mr. H. S. Cheshire

717 Northeast 2nd Street Pompano Beach, Florida

Stephen Walker, Esquire Post Office Box V

West Palm Beach, Florida

Docket for Case No: 75-001918

Orders for Case No: 75-001918