A provision limiting water bottling companies’ access to permits exploded in the Senate Appropriations committee Thursday as an effort that appeared dead in the legislature weeks ago resurfaced.
Sen. Debbie Mayfield’s (R-Melbourne) amendment to a broader water quality bill requires a unanimous vote in water management boards for companies to acquire a two year permit to extract water.
The move prompted an explosive response from Sen. Tom Lee (R-Bradon) who said he had already killed the issue in his committee.
“I object strenuously to this committee knowing that issue is in my committee, allowing that subset of an issue to be placed into this bill, not catching it, flagging it, and rejecting it. And if that’s the way we are going to operate then I don’t need to chair a committee. I don’t lightly refuse to hear a bill,” Lee said.
Lee is against the amendment and plans to lobby against the bill should it progress. He’s also angry at Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office for pushing the language after he declined to hear the issue in his committee.
“To the extent that the governor’s office had approached you, Senator Mayfield to insert this, shame on them because we’ve been in extensive conversations with the governor’s office on not only this issue, but many others. And if we’re just going to try and slip one past the goalie any chance we get around here, then this process doesn’t mean anything, there are no checks and balances left,” Lee said.
Water Bottling Companies Argue They’re Not To Blame For Florida’s Water Woes
John Steverson, represents Seven Springs Water Company. He’s urging the removal of the provision from the bill and pointed out even the Senate doesn’t require a unanimous vote for any sort of legislation.
“I understand that consumptive use withdrawals are important decisions that deserve careful consideration and very thorough vetting, however I also understand that the Florida Senate makes important decisions every day without the constraints of unanimous consent. Can you imagine the chaos and the gridlock that that would cause for this body? In the very same bill that you’re removing a unanimous provision for cabinet appointments, you’re now placing that on a water management district for a simple permitting matter,” Steverson said.
Sen. Annette Taddeo’s (D-Miami) proposal to tax water bottling companies was tabled earlier in the session for having similar issues. The water bottling industry feels targeted by this legislation and points to other industries it said are more directly to blame for water woes.
Laura Donaldson, an attorney providing water council for Nestle Water North America said Nestle wants to ensure good water quality in the state of Florida, but said the government only seems to be concerned with water bottling companies’ effect, when it isn’t even large percent of usage.
Water bottling companies like Nestle and Seven Springs use less than 1% of Florida’s water, but for Nestle, 95% of its product is sourced from the state.
“Current laws don’t require unanimous consent of a governing board for a water use permit that decreases withdrawals going into the everglades, that takes water out of the Saint Johns River, out of the Apalachicola River, out of the aquifer, and those are all important resources in the state and just one industry is being targeted,” Donaldson said.
Scientists Say Water Quality Isn’t Based On A Single Issue
That argument is backed by hydrogeologist and Project Baseline founder, Todd Kincaid.
“My perspective is that when everybody gets worked up about bottled water, it distracts people and the discourse away from what really needs to happen,” Kincaid said. “Which is that the state needs to engage in real measures to constrain the amount of water that’s pulled out of the aquifers.”
The measure passed the Senate’s appropriations committee and is a priority of Gov. Ron DeSantis who is focused on improving water quality throughout the state.
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