STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

In re: Roose Groves, Samuel A. )

Roose & William D. Roose, ) CASE NO. 75-2034 Partners, consumptive ) Application No. 21701 use permit application )

)

RECOMMENDED ORDER

After due notice, a public hearing was held by the undersigned Hearing Officer on December 9, 1975, at Merritt Island, Florida.

APPEARANCES

Applicant: Samuel A. Roose

Permittee: Steven Walker, Staff Attorney Central and Southern Florida Flood Control District

ISSUES PRESENTED

Whether consumptive use permit for the quantities of water as requested in Application No. 21701 should be granted.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. The applicant submitted Application No. 21701 to the Central and Southern Florida Flood Control District on March 5, 1975, requesting a permit to withdraw 3.83 acre/feet per year of water for the purpose of agricultural irrigation (Exhibit 6). The application was amended by letter from Mr. Samuel

   A. Roose to the Flood Control District, dated April 30, 1975, to change the quantity of water to be withdrawn from 3.83 acre/feet per year to 38.3 acre/feet per year (Exhibit 2).

   
   

2. Public notice of hearing was published in a newspaper of general circulation, TODAY, a newspaper published in Brevard County Florida, in the issues of November 21 and November 28, 1975, pursuant to Section 373.146, Florida Statutes. Notices of said public hearing were duly sent by certified mail as required by law.

   
   

3. An objection to the issuance of the requested permit was filed with the District by Mr. Robert W. Dickson, President, Merritt Island Home Owners Association, by letter of April 17, 1975, expressing the concern of the association which represents some 5,000 homes on Merritt Island as to the rising salt content in well water in the area in view of the fact that some homes use shallow well water for drinking and cooking. It was the position of the association that pumping the volume of water requested by the applicant would contribute to salt water intrusion into the potable water supply in the area (Exhibit 3).

4. A letter of objection from Charles R. Brannin and Marjorie T. Brannin, dated April 17, 1975, was also filed with the District (Exhibit 4). In their letter, Mr. and Mrs. Brannin also objected to "this large amount of water from salt contaminated wells being pumped into our soil" claiming that salt water intrusion would result in contamination of their potable water supply. Mr. Brannin testified at the hearing and stated that he was, in fact, representing a private association known as the Courtenay Civic Association which was composed of home owners in the area, and that about a thousand individuals lived in the area of Courtenay. However, has testimony dealt primarily with his own property which was located in a northwesterly direction from the applicant's grove area about 2 and 1/2 miles away. His main concern is that his potable water supply has become increasingly brackish over the years and that this is a result of salt water intrusion in the subsurface water. He has a seventeen foot deep well on his property which draws from ground water and which is located 3/4 of a mile from the Indian River. He testified that he lost $10,000.00 in orchids due to salt water intrusion. He feels that any wells such as the applicants which bring water to the surface can contribute to the general salt water intrusion problem in the area.

   
   

5. Roose Groves owns 254 acres of land of which 150 acres is in orange groves, 60 in pasture, and 44 consisting of swamp or wooded area. The water for which the application was submitted is to provide irrigation for citrus fruit primarily. The use is intended only during the dry season when the rain is insufficient to irrigate the groves, this generally being the period from November to May each year. His land is located on a high sand hill and therefore surface water goes directly into the ground and there is no surface runoff. He utilizes two wells at the present time to draw water for irrigation, although six wells are in existence. The natural drainage of the land is south toward the barge canal and the applicant uses drainage ditches on the property and two exhaust pumps when there is standing water to drain it into the mosquito control canal that lies on the western border of his property.

   
   

6. Mr. Gary Winter, hydrologist-geologist with the Flood Control District, testified and established the following facts:

   
   

   1. There has been a moderate decline in the potentiometric surface at the site area for a number of years (Exhibits 7 & 8).

      
      

   2. Based on the long-term sustained water yield of the basin in question for the Floridan aquifer, the quantities requested in the application and the irrigation requirements calculated by the District staff are within acceptable limits for withdrawal at this time.

      
      

   3. The requested diversion is a reasonable and beneficial use of the water which does not harm other legal users. In this connection, Mr. Winter had made a personal inspection of the area as a result of Mr. Brannin's objection, and extracted samples of water from various points in the general area as shown on Exhibits 5 & 9. Testing of these samples revealed that the chloride content of the water averaged about 1,000 parts per million, except in areas where there was no utilization of the Floridan aquifer. Mr. Brannin's well was found to contain 1141.6 p.p.m. in chloride content and a well of the applicant 1001.9

      p.p.m. Two samples from Sikes Creek which runs north and south on the west side of the applicant's property showed readings of 9848.7 p.p.m. and 3452.6 p.p.m. These high readings were due to tidal influence from surface waters surrounding Merritt Island. There are no housing areas in the immediate vicinity of the applicant's property. Due to the drainage pattern, the water used by the applicant will drain toward Sikes Creek which has a high chloride content.

      However, Sikes Creek is a hydrological divide which prevents water from flowing to the east. Due to this fact and the distance to Mr. Brannin's property, there will be no adverse impact upon his potable water supply or of that in his general area by applicant's requested water use. A major reason for increased salt water intrusion in the Merritt Island area is due to mosquito control wells which reduces the potentiometric surface and thereby causes salt to lie in the area. There are six to eight mosquito control wells in the vicinity.

      
      

   4. The application meets all of the statutory and regulatory criteria for the issuance of a permit.

      
      

   5. The Flood Control District recommends issuance of the permit with the following attached conditions.

      
      

      1. A maximum monthly diversion should be granted not to exceed 1.81 million gallons (5.55 acre-feet).

      2. The applicant shall install and maintain controls on the free flowing wells which will effectively and completely control the flow at all times.

      3. If at any time there is an indication that the well casing, valves, or controls leak or have become inoperative, then these parts shall be repaired or replaced as required to put the system back in proper operating condition. Failure to make such repairs shall be cause for filling and abandoning the well in accordance with procedures outlined by the Department of Natural Resources and with the concurrence of the District.

      4. The applicant shall supply to the district once a year, a monthly total for the water withdrawn from the artesian wells and the results of a chloride analysis which shall be conducted in April, May, and November of each year on each of the free flowing wells.

      5. The maximum installed capacity for the applicant's wells shall be their estimated free flow capability as outlined:

         NO. OF WELLS DIAMETER CAPACITY

         2 6 inches 400 gpm each

         2 4 inches 90 gpm each

         1 5 inches 200 gpm

         1 7 inches 500 gpm

         Total 6 1680 gpm

      6. The applicant shall not pump water from the indicated Floridan aquifer wells; however, this restriction shall not prohibit the applicant from using booster pumps as required for the distribution of the Floridan aquifer water.

         
         

7. The applicant agrees that the foregoing conditions would be reasonable and he has no objection to them.

   
   

   CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

   
   

8. The application has been properly processed under Chapter 373, Florida Statutes, and the rules promulgated pursuant thereto.

9. The requested use meets the criteria of Section 373.223, Florida Statutes, and Rule l6Kzzz-2.05, Florida Administrative Code.

   
   

10. It is concluded that the objections to granting the permit are with out sufficient merit to warrant denial of the application.

    
    

11. The conditions recommended by the Flood Control District staff are reasonable and should be imposed under the authority of Section 373.219(1), Florida Statutes.

    
    

12. The requested use should be granted with the conditions recommended by the staff, and agreed to by the applicant.

RECOMMENDATION

It is recommended that Application No. 21701 of Roose Groves for the quantities of water applied for should be granted conditioned as specified in Findings of Fact 6-e above.

DONE and ENTERED this 2nd day of January, 1976, in Tallahassee, Florida.

THOMAS C. OLDHAM

Hearing Officer

Division of Administrative Hearings Room 530, Carlton Building Tallahassee, Florida 32304

COPIES FURNISHED:

Roose Groves

1780 Porpoise Street Merritt Island, Florida

Steven Walker, Esquire Staff Attorney

Central and Southern Florida Flood Control District

P.O. Box V

West Palm Beach, Florida 33402

Docket for Case No: 75-002034

Orders for Case No: 75-002034