| OCR Text |
Show FLORIDA 207 for specific amounts of water, for particular uses, subject to appro- priate conditions and reservations, and are of limited duration. When permits expire, they may or may not be renewed, depending on the public interest then prevailing. Even while permits are in good standing, they are subject to restrictions in water use during water shortage emergencies. The second outstanding feature is, for all practical purposes, an outright abolition of riparian rights. Many other States have found no difficulty in doing away with "unused" riparian rights, but the Florida act also does awav with riparian rights in actual use. This is accomplished by requiring all existing users to acquire permits within 2 years following implementation of the permit system, and if they fail to do so their rights are conclusively deemed to be abandoned, even if their water use has continued. If such users apply for permits, they are to be granted initial permits if their use qualifies under the statute and under common law principles. But even if they qualify for initial permits, such permits will be good only for any period between 1 day and 20 years (subject to the dis- cretion of the department), and thereafter any renewal permit is also subject to the department's discretion. As the discussion in section 3.2, infra, will show, existing riparian uses have no practicable advantage over future nonriparian uses. Nothing that has been said, and nothing that will be said, is at all critical of the Florida act, because it is remarkable legislation. But its true significance and im- pact cannot be understood without some explanation and evaluation. That explanation follows in this section, and in sections 3 and 4, infra. While the various provisions of the act will be examined in some detail below, the effective dates for different portions of the act should be noted. For substantive implementation, the act takes effect July 1, 1973, and inconsistent provisions are repealed effective that date. However, to gear up for the implementation, certain sec- tions take effect earlier. Those sections which set forth the title (373.013), declare the legislative policy (373.016), authorize inter- agency agreements (373.046), require the establishment of water management districts (373.069), and provide for membership of governing boards for the districts (373.073), took effect immediately; and an appropriation of $75,000 to carry out the purposes of the act became effective July 1, 1972. All other sections of the act take effect July 1, 1973. Attention will now be focused on the functional components of the 1972 act, and, so far as is practicable, the following discussion will follow the basic organization of the act. c. Purposes, Policy, and Scope of Act The statute declares that "waters have not heretofore been con- served or fully controlled so as to realize their full beneficial use,"19 and then declares that it is the policy of the legislature: (a) To provide for the management of water and related land resources; (b) To promote the conservation, development, and proper utilization of surface and ground water; 18 Sec. 373.061(1) (1972 supp.). |
