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Show FLORIDA 213 The district is not obligated to give notice or hold a hearing with respect to such an application, but if it is rejected, the applicant may petition for, and obtain, a hearing.51 With respect to water use permits and storage and operation per- mits, applications must be filed on "appropriate forms provided by the governing board." Here, notice is required, by regular mail to persons who have requested notice of pending applications, and by publication in a newspaper having general circulation in the area affected. A hearing may or may not be required, depending on the amount of water to be used and whether objections are filed, but these matters will be discussed in the following section. e. Consumptive Use Permits (1) Implementation of Permit /System The department is authorized to act directly, or to delegate author- ity to the governing board of any water management district, to implement a program "authorizing the consumptive use of particular quantities of water." Public notice and public hearing are required before any such program is implemented, or, after implementation, discontinued.52 (2) Permits Required and Conditions for Issuance After a permit system has been implemented pursuant to notice and hearing, "no person shall make any withdrawal, diversion, im- poundment, or consumptive use of water" without obtaining a per- mit from the governing board or the department, but an exemption is provided for domestic consumption by individual users.53 Before such an application can be approved and a permit issued, the applicant must show that his proposed use (a) is a reasonable- beneficial use as defined by the act; (b) will not interfere with any presently existing legal use of water; and (c) is consistent with the public interest.54 Of particular significance for a riparian rights jurisdiction is the express authorization that a permit may be issued "to transport and use ground or surface water beyond the overlying land or outside the watershed from which it is taken," if it is found that such use is consistent with "the public interest." 35 In approving an application and issuing a permit, the department or district board may reserve water otherwise covered by the permit in such locations, quantities, and seasons as may be "required" for protection of fish, wildlife, and public health and safety. If such reservations are made, they are subject to "periodic review and re- vision" in light of changed conditions.56 (3) Existing Uses The act stipulates that applications cannot be approved if they would interfere with existing "legal" uses of water, and that reser- vations or conditions in permits issued must protect "all presently existing legal uses of water."57 Therefore, existing legal uses are <a Id. MSec. 373.216 (1972 supp.). 83 Sec. 373.219(1) (1972 supp.). "See. 373.223(1) (1972 Bupp.). 65 Sec. 373.223(2) (1972 supp.). B8Sec. 373.223(3) (1972 supp.). «Id |
