The St. Johns River, South Florida and Southwest Florida water management districts have concluded that sustainable quantities of groundwater in central Florida are insufficient to meet all future public water supply demands and that there is an immediate need to develop and implement supplemental water supply projects.

The area of concern has been designated as the Central Florida Coordination Area (CFCA) and includes Seminole, Orange and Osceola counties and south Lake County within the St. Johns River Water Management District; Orange, Osceola and Polk counties within the South Florida Water Management District; and Polk County within the Southwest Florida Water Management District.

To address these issues, the three water management districts developed an action plan for formal coordination and communication in the CFCA where the boundaries of the three districts come together and where permitting actions in one district can impact water resources and water users throughout the area. The Action Plan addresses three areas of coordination — regulation, planning, and computer modeling and predictive tools.

The primary planning tool to implement the Action Plan was the development and calibration of the necessary hydrologic models to determine the sustainability of the groundwater supplies. Because of the complexity of the effort and the desire for consensus among the stakeholders, including the water management districts, the effort to implement the Action Plan is being modified to incorporate a more collaborative approach to resolving the technical issues.

To address the limitations of the 2006 Action Plan yet still fulfill the overarching water resource objectives in Central Florida outlined in that plan, a new Central Florida Water Initiative (CFWI) has been created. In addition to revising the implementation date for the new rules, Guiding Principles and Collaborative Process Goals have been established, and an executive level Steering Group has been formed to direct the coordinated effort of the CFWI. The Work Plan to implement the CFWI will be posted to this website when it is completed.

Central Florida Water Initiative guiding document (draft)

For more information about the CFWI, contact:

• Southwest Florida Water Management District — Rand Frahm at rand.frahm@swfwmd.state.fl.us
• St. Johns River Water Management District — Glenn Forrest at gforrest@sjrwmd.com
• South Florida Water Management District — Dean Powell at dpowell@sfwmd.gov
• Facilitator — John Shearer at johnshearer@cfl.rr.com

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CFWI upcoming meetings

CFWI public meeting materials

• May 18, 2012, Central Florida Water Initiative steering committee meeting
  • Meeting agenda
  • Guidance document update
  • Schedule
  • Meeting presentations
    • Hydrologic analysis
    • Standards for Peer Review (MFLs and Reservations)
    • Groundwater availability update
    • Regional water supply plan — Water demand projections
    • Regional water supply plan — Public Involvement Plan
• January 27, 2012, Central Florida Water Initiative steering committee meeting
  • Meeting agenda
  • Attendees
  • Schedule
  • Meeting presentations
    • Hydrologic analysis
    • Myregion
    • Regional water supply plan for CFWI
    • Groundwater availability
  • Meeting minutes
• December 2, 2011, Central Florida Water Initiative steering committee meeting
  • Meeting agenda
  • Meeting presentations
    • Agriculture water demands
    • Reference condition process
    • Regional Water Supply Plan for CFWI
    • Hydrologic Analysis
    • Environmental Measures
    • Minimum Flows and Levels, Reservations
    • Data Monitoring and Investigations
  • Meeting minutes
• September 30, 2011, Central Florida Water Initiative steering committee meeting
  • Meeting agenda
  • Scheduling guidance
  • Meeting presentations
    • Environmental Measures
    • Hydrologic Analysis
    • Minimum Flows and Levels, Reservations
    • Data Monitoring and Investigations
  • Meeting minutes
  • Sign-in sheet
• July 8, 2011, Central Florida Water Initiative steering committee meeting
  • Meeting agenda
  • Meeting presentations
    • Environmental Measures
    • Hydrologic Analysis
    • Minimum Flows and Levels, Reservations
    • Data Monitoring and Investigations
  • Meeting notes
  • Sign-in sheet
• May 20, 2011, 10 a.m., Central Florida Water Initiative steering committee meeting
  • Meeting agenda
  • Meeting presentations
    • Groundwater Modeling
    • Environmental Measures
    • MFLs, Prevention/Recovery Strategies, Reservations
    • Data and Monitoring Strategy
  • Meeting notes
  • Sign-in sheet
• April 1, 2011, 10 a.m., Central Florida Water Initiative steering committee meeting
  • Meeting agenda
  • Meeting presentations
    • Hydrologic Analysis
    • Environmental Measures
  • Meeting notes
  • Sign-in sheet

CFWI resources

• Environmental Assessment Databases (Provisional)
  • Shapefile Format Database (ARC/GIS compatible)
  • KML Format Database (Google Earth compatible)
    • Instructions for downloading Google Earth
  • To provide public comment regarding the Environmental Assessment Databases
    • Email comments to Glenn Forrest at gforrest@sjrwmd.com.
    • Microsoft Outlook users can click HERE to e-mail comments.
• ECFT Model Output Materials — PM Viewer: Draft Results 10/17/2010
• Central Florida Coordination Area statistical analysis
• Coordination Area map
• Coordination Area utilities map
• St. Johns River Water Management District permitting rules
• South Florida Water Management District permitting rules
• Southwest Florida Water Management District permitting rules

CFCA resources and public meeting materials

• Resources
  • Action plan, Sept. 18, 2006
  • Planning work group final report
• Public meeting materials
  • February 25, 2011, 9 a.m., Central Florida Coordination Area steering committee meeting
    • Meeting agenda
    • Sign-in sheet
  • October 27, 2010, 9:30 a.m., Central Florida Coordination Area meeting
    • Meeting agenda
    • Meeting presentations
      • Environmental Assessment Status
      • Statistical Evaluations
      • Preliminary Modeling Results
      • Model Consistency
    • Groundwater Drawdown for Upper Floridan Aquifer
    • Summary of 2013 Water Demand Comments
  • September 21, 2010, technical meeting
    • Sign-in sheet
    • Questions and answers
  • July 29, 2010, 9:30 a.m., Central Florida Coordination Area meeting
    • Meeting presentations
      • Overview and status of CFCA efforts
      • Data analysis and modeling tools
      • Statistical evaluations
      • East Central Florida transient model update
      • DWRM2 update
      • Model consistency
      • Proposed model simulation
      • Model work products and access
      • Schedule for completion of modeling activities
      • Public participation
  • September 25, 2009, 9:30 a.m., Central Florida Coordination Area meeting
    • Stakeholder meeting presentations