The Suwannee River Water Management District Governing Board approved the renewal of a permit that allows Seven Springs Water Company to pump almost a million gallons of water from Ginnie Springs each day. The final approval comes after years of back-and-forth and litigation over permitting criteria and litigation. 

Seven Springs initially applied to renew the permit in 2019, but district staff recommended denial of the permit in 2020 because of disagreement over permitting criteria. Seven Springs would be pumping the water to a bottling plant, Nestlé at the time, in Gilchrist County, and the district wanted to include Nestlé as a co-permittee. 

Seven Springs filed a petition that went to the Division of Administrative Hearings (DOAH), resulting in a recommendation to grant the application for permit renewal. In February 2021, the SRWMD governing board approved a special final order to approve the permit, but the Florida Springs Council filed a petition against that order, and eventually, DOAH assigned the case to an administrative law judge. 

After conducting a final hearing, the administrative law judge issued a recommended order to issue the permit, which had been amended along the way to include the bottling company, now Blue Trident, as a co-permittee. 

“I think it’s almost unfortunate that they call it a recommended order,” Tom Reeves, the SRWMD governing board’s legal counsel, said in Tuesday’s meeting. “A recommended order makes it sound like you have lots of discretion. In fact, you do not.” 

The SRWMD governing board could only decide contrary to the administrative law judge if it finds the ALJ’s fact findings to be unsupported by any competent, substantial evidence, or if there is an issue of law over which the board has substantive jurisdiction. 

The district had received roughly 19,000 written public comments over the course of the back-and-forth, but only a handful of people spoke at the meeting on Tuesday. 

Gilchrist County Commissioner Tommy Langford said the water bottling operation is a job opportunity for residents and it brings in over $123,000 in property taxes each year, plus another $517,000 annually in tangible taxes. He said the companies would be good stewards of the water supply, constantly testing and monitoring and having no impact on the aquifer. 

“I couldn’t ask for a better business, a been a better opportunity for Gilchrist County,” Langford told the board. “We like it. I live right next to it. It’s a wonderful opportunity for Gilchrist County, it’s an asset to Gilchrist County and the residents who live there.” 

More people came to oppose the permit renewal, saying the companies would harm the springs and that the renewed permit would not be in the public interest. 

“Individual profit is not in the public interest,” Raven Siegfried, who identified herself as a political scientist, told the board. “I know that you will not listen to me today, but I want you to at least be aware of just how Orwellian it is when you decide that harm is beneficial.” 

Attorney Doug MacLaughlin, who argued on behalf of the Florida Springs Council, made a similar point, telling the board that its own rules provide three prongs for determining water usage: the project must be reasonably beneficial, not interfering with an existing permitted use of water, and consistent with public interest. 

Attorney Doug Manson, who spoke for Seven Springs, said public interest has been heard thoroughly and the board needed to focus on the expert testimony presented on the company’s side. He noted that the Springs Council had not brought forth any expert testimony.

“We sit here today with the idea that there are 19,000 public comments and the Springs Council argues they should be considered as part of the public interest,” Manson told the board. “Staff reviewed those comments to the extent you can… But this isn’t Facebook. Your number of likes and a popularity contest don’t determine whether you meet rules and criteria, that provide reasonable assurance that you were able to have your permit issued.” 

Manson also pointed out that over the course of negotiations, the permit has been reduced from 1.152 million gallons per day in 1994-95, to its current amount of 984,000 gallons. He also echoed similar points to Langford, noting that the economic benefits of the plant would remain local, which is in the public interest. 

The board voted unanimously to issue the final order based on the recommended order, with the addition of Blue Trident as a co-permittee.