Tom Feeney: Setting the Record Straight on the Florida House’s Water Policy

This session, the Florida Legislature is making an unprecedented commitment to the stewardship of our natural resources by including the development of a broader water policy as a key priority in the shared House and Senate agenda.  To the benefit of all Floridians, leaders starting with Governor Rick Scott, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, House Speaker Steve Crisafulli and Senate President Andy Gardiner are working to solve Florida’s water challenges so that down the road, Florida’s fresh water supply remains clean, abundant, and sustainable.

Unfortunately, as the policy takes shape – especially in the Florida House, where it has been under consideration for several weeks – many in the environmental activist community as well as some newspaper editorial boards have attempted to undermine these efforts by spreading half-truths and in some cases, outright falsehoods.  These attacks may make great headlines, but they don’t move the ball one iota as lawmakers seek to find common ground on the issue.

Take for instance a recent newspaper editorial, which inaccurately characterized the House’s water bill as a measure “masquerading as a sound policy for growth.”  This sentiment completely ignores the current reality.  Florida’s existing water policy doesn’t comprehensively address water resources and fails to consider the specific needs of different regions.  Florida is projected to need an additional 1.3 billion gallons of water per day by 2030 to meet future demands. To help prevent this scenario, the House’s proposed water reform includes real solutions focused on growing Florida’s water supply.

The House’s proposal has also been unfairly criticized for not addressing conservation.  In reality, the bill provides the tools that will allow conservation to work without insisting on a one-size-fits-no-one approach.  For example, in Central Florida, it requires the development of a joint regional water supply plan, which has already begun taking shape with the help of the region’s water management stakeholders.  The water management districts have identified conservation goals for the plan and plan for some of the necessary long-term shortfalls to come from conservation.  The plan also concluded, however, that much conservation had already been done in that region and that, therefore, opportunities for more conservation are limited.  Florida already leads the country in its use of reclaimed water, an important form of conservation.  Developing new supplies, rather than further conservation requirements, is therefore the logical approach.

Opponents of the House water bill have tried to characterize the legislation as benefiting certain utilities when nothing could be further from the truth.  There is nothing in the bill suggesting that one local utility and its ratepayers will be responsible for paying the costs of developing water supplies of neighboring utilities.  In fact, the Central Florida Water Initiative developed an extensive groundwater model to determine which utilities would need to develop alternative sources of supply.  Furthermore, pitting “taxpayers” against “utilities” makes no sense.  These utilities are local government entities whose rates are paid by the taxpayers.

Unfortunately, some critics have attempted to unfairly paint the Florida House as a body indifferent to restoring Florida’s springs.  But last year, it was the Florida House that initially proposed historic funding for springs restoration, ultimately leading to $30 million for the effort. The funding provided a substantial boost to efforts to preserve and protect some of Florida’s most precious water bodies.

Finally, it’s simply dishonest to criticize the House water bill for something it isn’t.  It’s a water policy bill, not a water spending bill. And like last year, the appropriate time to address springs restoration will be when the House and Senate propose a budget later during the Legislative Session.

If you support cleaner water, a larger water supply, and more sensible water regulations, there’s a lot to like in the House water bill.  But not if you choose to ignore the facts.  People who care about making informed arguments can take heart: not everyone engaged in the water debate is slinging mud. Fortunately for all of us, leaders in Tallahassee are listening and carefully considering the facts.

Tom Feeney is the president and CEO of Associated Industries of Florida. He is the former Speaker of the Florida House and served as a member of Congress from 2003 to 2009.