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Resolution 324-1990 .; ./' Monroe County Commission - N L ;q- .- '- .;:;r C. D- '-- \.Q ,- N ~ :::J ,.-, --:J -- L: -.J ~ - l.L... RESOLUTION NO. 324 -1990 A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMIS- SIONERS OF MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA, REQUESTING THE SOUTH FLORIDA WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT TO-, UNDERTAKE, UTILIZING FUNDING ALREADY PAID BY MONROE COUNTY TAXPAYERS, CERTAIN SCIENTIF- IC RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING STUDIES TO CONFIRM OR REFUTE THE EFFICACY OF CURRENTLY UTILIZED BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES FOR STORMWATER DISPOSAL IN THE FLORIDA KEYS AREA AND DIRECTING THE CLERK TO THE BOARD TO FORWARD CERTIFIED COPIES HEREOF TO CERTAIN S~TE AGENCIES AND OFFICIALS. WHEREAS, all of Monroe County is geographically located within the jurisdictional boundaries of the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD); and WHEREAS, the Florida Keys area of Monroe County is an Area of Critical State Concern under Chapter 380, Florida Statutes; and WHEREAS, the SFWMD has adopted district wide rules and regulations for storm water management and disposal containing provisions intended for flood protection and protection and conservation of an area-wide potable groundwater supply based upon research, engineering and scientific data obtained throughout the District's jurisdictional area of the central and south Florida mainland, with emphasis on the populated areas therein; and WHEREAS, the populated portion of Monroe County is composed of an archipelago of islands, South of the mainland, known as the Florida Keys; and WHEREAS, the underlying geology of the Florida Keys is composed primarily of porous oolitic limestone and coral rock containing principally a tidally influenced saline aquifer; and WHEREAS, unlike the Florida mainland, most areas in the Florida Keys have no potable fresh water aquifer of usable fresh groundwater supply; and WHEREAS, the public water supply of potable, treated fresh water for the entire Florida Keys is provided from The Biscayne Aquifer in South Dade County through the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority's pipeline from Florida City to Key West; and WHEREAS, the unique geology of the Florida Keys Area has traditionally allowed the use of seepage trenches and Class V drainage wells as the best available management practices to effectively dispose of stormwater runoff vertically into the underlying saline aquifer which runoff is then filtered or naturally treated when migrating laterally through oolitic and coral rock formations; and WHEREAS, there have been recent questions raised by local environmental groups, concerned citizens and local and state officials regarding the possible adverse water quality impacts on near shore receiving coastal waters of the State and the coral reefs resulting from such lateral migration through the underlying substrate of stormwater runoff using vertical drainage disposal methods; and WHEREAS, the Monroe County Board of County Commissioners is charged with adopting a stormwater management element for inclusion in the Monroe County Comprehensive Plan in compliance with the Florida Growth Management Act; and WHEREAS, there is an urgent need to consider any environmen- tal impacts of stormwater disposal methods contained in the Storm Water Management element now being prepared for the Monroe County Comprehensive Plan based upon the results of proper adequate scientific and engineering research specifically directed towards the unique underlying geology of the Florida Keys area; and WHEREAS, the citizens of Monroe County have paid a total of almost 3 Million Dollars and over 10.7 Million Dollars since 1979 in ad valorem taxes for their share of underwriting the SFWMD operational costs; and WHEREAS, Section 373.0391 of the Florida Statutes requires that the water management district provide technical assistance to the County in the preparation of the Comprehensive Plan elements; and WHEREAS, Section 373.0395 of the Florida Statutes requires that the water management district develop a Groundwater Basin Resource Availability Inventory which would include a hydrogeologic study; now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA: I. The SFWMD be and the same is hereby requested to take immediate steps to provide or commission the necessary engineering and scientific research study or studies in the Florida Keys area utilizing ad valorem tax funding already paid by Monroe County taxpayers that would, at a minimum, specifically address the factors regarding disposal of stormwater with emphasis place upon answering the following questions or confirm or refute currently utilized best management practices for the benefit of protecting the environment and future quality of life in the Florida Keys: 1. What harmful pollutants are found in Stormwater runoff and in what relative quantities? 2. What is the existing water quality of the underlying saline aquifer in both populated and unpopulated areas of the Florida Keys? 3. When inj ected or percolated into the underlying salt water aquifer, what happens to the stormwater and its quality? 4. Do any pollutants injected with the stormwater change the quality of the saline aquifer and how? 5. Does the injected stormwater migrate through the porous oolitic limerock and if so, how fast, what is its cone of influence from points of injection and in which direction does it move consistent with tidal differentials or otherwise? 6. Is there any improvement in water quality of the injected stormwater resulting from its migration through the rock substrate through a natural filtering effect? 7. Does any of the inj ected stormwater return to the surface or the nearshore coastal receiving waters and if so, how widely dispersed is it and what is its relative quality at these locations? 8. Is there any water quality impact on the saline nearshore eco-system from (a) pre-treated injected stormwater and (b) point-source discharges of pre-treated stormwater from outfalls? 9. What is the optimum vertical depth or depths, locations and spacing for Class V drainage wells in the Florida Keys? 10. What are the effects of stormwater disposal methodolo- gies currently utilized in the Keys on the limited freshwater lens aquifers found in Key West, Big Pine Key and other of the Keys islands? II. No additional ad valorem taxes will be assessed for such scientific research and engineering studies. III. The Clerk of the Board of County Commissioners is hereby directed to forward certified copies of this Resolution to each member of the Governing Board of the South Florida Water Management District, to the Secretaries of the Florida Departments of Environmental Regulation and Community Affairs and to the Executive Director of the South Florida Regional Planning Council. PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Board of County Commissioners of Monroe County, Florida, at a regular meeting of said Board held on the 20th day of June, A.D. 1990. - - BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA BY, ok~ MAY (Seal) At tes t: DANNY L. KOLHAGE, Clerk --&L:~1jJL ~lrl'p}?(]VEr~~~~:' T('i (,'tih ~~ BY ___. At('..;-f....,..~."" ('\,((;r,f" ......;...;.t ,; . "