SWFWMD New Rules for Frost/Freeze Irrigation in Dover/Plant City Area

This in from SWFWMD Community Affairs...
The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s new regulatory rules took effect today for existing and future water use permit holders in the Dover/Plant City area with crops that require frost/freeze protection.


The District developed the new rules in response to the unprecedented 11-day January 2010 freeze event, which resulted in more than 750 dry wells and more than 140 sinkholes. The new rules are one component of a District’s comprehensive freeze management plan, which was developed to significantly reduce impacts from future frost/freeze events.
Here is what SWFWMD is doing.

1.  Declaring a 256-square-mile water use caution area in the Dover/Plant City area.
2.  Establishing a minimum aquifer level and Minimum Aquifer Level Protection Zone

3.  Developing a recovery strategy to help meet the minimum aquifer level
4.  Requiring Automatic Meter Reading Devices

5.  Creating a new process for allocating dry well complaints


For more information on the new regulatory rules or the District’s freeze management plan, visit www.WaterMatters.org/frost-freeze/.