The Southwest Florida Water Management District fined the club earlier this year indicating that the service could be shut down due to longstanding violations of its water use permit. A geologist hired by the club is proposing that the district take responsibility for the problem, arguing that it used “incorrect calculations” that put the club out of compliance.
The Country Club of Sebring (Fla.) Utilities system is proposing a solution to the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s (SWFWMD) notice that the club’s water service could be shut down due to longstanding violations of its water use permit, the Sebring (Fla.) News-Sun reported.
Country Club of Sebring Utility is a private utility company that provides potable water service to the Country Club of Sebring, serving mainly individual residences, some multi-family residences, and some commercial entities, News-Sun reported.
The solution, created by geologist Vivian Bielski of Andreyev Engineering, suggests that SWFWMD be asked to take responsibility for the problem, saying that the district issued water use permits that put the club out of compliance, the News-Sun reported.
“I would suggest that the utility’s attorney require the district to rescind the fine that they are imposing, based upon the district’s negligence and incorrect calculations,” wrote Bielski in the memorandum.
Bielski cited Chapter 40D-2 of the Florida Administrative Codes, which provides that calculations of permitted water quantities are based upon a compliance per capita use rate that is the average of the last five years of actual pumping data, the News-Sun reported.
“The utility was not given that opportunity and the quantities were not based upon the five-year compliance per capita use rate,” Bielski wrote in her response.
Bielski suggested that the utility work with SWFWMD to develop a water use permit that would not put them immediately into non-compliance through permit modification application process, News-Sun reported.
In August, SWFWMD’s then-Executive Director Blake Guillory wrote that “without a substantial reduction in water use, it is possible that the customers of the utility may experience an increase in rates and/or an interruption of service.”
Guillory explained that the Country Club Utilities service area is within the Southern Water Use Caution area. The SWUCA, as it is known, is an area within which water resources are critical. Guillory said Country Club Utilities’ history of noncompliance began more than a decade ago, News-Sun reported.
Greg Harris, who owns and operates the system, maintains he has unsuccessfully attempted to implement and encourage water conservation among his utility customers. For example, Country Club Utilities had purchased rain sensors for the homeowners and had been prepared to have them installed. However, Harris said, not one utility customer responded to the offer, News-Sun reported.
In addition, Harris said the company has no enforcement capabilities to penalize homeowners for over-consumption and is strapped by lack of personnel, with assistance by only one part-time employee, News-Sun reported.
Officials of the water management district have not yet replied to the memo. In an effort to display what they termed “a good faith effort of compliance,” Country Club Utilities hired Bielski to look into the problem, News-Sun reported.
At the time, Harris asked for a 90- to 120-day timeframe for her to gather and analyze a wide array of information ranging from the review of annual reports to a site-specific review of the geology of the area to develop options for compliance, News-Sun reported.
That report was compiled and now is in the hands of SWFWMD’s legal staff, News-Sun reported.
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