Niagara Bottling permit

Updated on 10/28/2009

After nearly two years of review and evaluation, the St. Johns River Water Management District on Sept. 25, 2009, approved a five-year permit for 484,000 gallons of water a day for Niagara Bottling to manufacture plastic water bottles and to purify groundwater for bottled drinking water.

The permit includes limiting conditions requiring Niagara to investigate and participate in the development of supplemental water supply projects that could supply water from other sources to Niagara in the future. Conditions also require Niagara to implement a water conservation plan that provides for auditing water uses; performing leak detection and repair; using recycled water in cooling towers, boilers and heaters; installing low-flow plumbing fixtures and eliminating landscape irrigation.

Niagara demonstrated compliance with the District’s consumptive use permitting criteria, including demonstration of need and that the use will not cause adverse impacts on water resources.

The information below provides the facts about the permit application and decision-making process.

• Frequently Asked Questions
• Chronological facts about the Niagara Bottling consumptive use permit
• Related Information

Frequently Asked Questions

Why was the permit approved?

The Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) determined that Niagara’s application met the District’s permitting criteria and issued a recommended order that recommended that the District approve a five-year permit to Niagara. When entering the final order, the District had limited legal authority to modify the recommended order to approve the permit. The District’s decision was required to be based solely on the recommended order and record of the administrative proceedings. The three parties involved (Groveland, Niagara and the District) presented expert witnesses and evidence to the ALJ during the April 2009 hearing.

Why did the executive director approve the permit instead of it being considered by the agency’s Governing Board?

Legislation that became effective July 1, 2009, required the Board to delegate permit approvals to the executive director. The decision would have been made by the Board if the proposed final order denied the permit. This process is consistent with the new legislation.

Was the public given an opportunity to provide input into the permit application?

Yes. The District received more than 1,100 letters and emails regarding the issuance of the permit prior to the April 2009 administrative hearing. The District entered all of that correspondence into evidence.

Why was a public meeting not held?

The executive director determined that holding a public meeting would have suggested to the public that he had significant leeway in entering this final order. He made the decision not to hold a public meeting after considering such things as:

• The legal prohibition on considering information outside of the record of this case.
• The limitations on his ability to reject the ALJ’s findings of fact.
• The limitations the ALJ placed on evidence allowed to be submitted.
• The fact that the District submitted public input to the ALJ as part of the administrative hearing.

How much water are bottled water plants allocated in the District?

Bottled water operations in the District are allocated a combined 1.69 million gallons of water per day.

How does this quantity of water allocated to bottled water companies compare to the total amount of groundwater allocated by the District?

The total amount of groundwater (the primary source of water for public water supply, industry, agriculture and recreational water use) used in the District in 2006 was 1.6 billion gallons per day. The amount allocated for bottling plants represents approximately 1/10 of 1 percent of the groundwater used. To put the volume of Niagara’s permit in perspective, if a 36-gallon bathtub represented all groundwater used in our District, Niagara’s use would equate to three tablespoons of the water in that bathtub.

Have permits been approved for other beverage companies?

Yes, water has been allocated in the District and around the state for other beverage companies, such as those producing colas, beer and citrus juices. In addition to bottled water, companies are also permitted to use water to produce and develop many foods and other products that are sold in and out of Florida, such as trees, plants, dairy products, fruits, vegetables, beef, paper products, construction materials, and a multitude of other products.

How did Florida law apply in the review of this permit application?

In evaluating a consumptive use permit application, Florida Statutes direct the District to determine whether the applicant’s proposed use of water:

• Is a reasonable and beneficial use
• Will not interfere with any presently existing legal use of water
• Is consistent with the public interest

Would not granting a permit to Niagara have delayed the need to develop alternative water supplies in the region?

No, 484,000 gallons a day is not a significant enough volume of water to affect the need for alternative water sources in the region. The purification and cooling process will generate about 91,000 gallons per day of wastewater, which will be blended with reclaimed water and used for irrigation for existing development.

What will Niagara do to conserve water?

As part of permit conditions, Niagara is required to implement a water conservation plan that will provide for auditing and accounting for all water uses; monitoring for and repairing leaks; leak testing; recycling water used in cooling towers, boilers and heaters; employee education and awareness; use of low flow plumbing fixtures; elimination of landscape irrigation; and annual review and updates of the water conservation plan.

How will the District ensure that Niagara meets the provisions of its permit?

The District has placed conditions on the permit that require Niagara to install flow meters on its wells that measure the withdrawal of water. Niagara is required to accurately report these withdrawal totals every six months.

How can a bottled water permit be considered when lakes in the area are already at low levels?

As part of the natural variation, lake levels go up and down. When rainfall is above normal, the lake levels go up. When rainfall is below normal, the lake levels go down. The ALJ found that the dominant surface waters in the area of Niagara’s withdrawal are sand hill lakes and that water table levels in these types of lake systems fluctuate widely, by as much as 8 or 10 feet. After hearing expert testimony from all parties in the case, he concluded that Niagara’s water use would not adversely impact lakes in the area.

If water bottling companies were not allowed to pump water, would the public be able to water their lawns more than two days a week?

No. All water users in the District, including Niagara and homeowners, are required to use water efficiently. Water conservation is required whether or not supplies are limited. Healthy lawns require no more than two days per week of water. Current watering restrictions do not affect the criteria under which staff evaluate applications for individual permits.

Chronological facts about the Niagara Bottling consumptive use permit

• Niagara Bottling, LLC, submitted an application on Nov. 2, 2007, to the St. Johns River Water Management District requesting a 20-year consumptive use permit for 490,000 gallons of water a day to manufacture plastic water bottles and to purify groundwater for bottled drinking water using a reverse osmosis process at its facility northwest of Groveland in Lake County.
• Following an eight-month evaluation of the application and its potential impacts, District regulatory staff submitted a recommendation that was scheduled to be considered by the District Governing Board on Aug. 12, 2008.
• District staff recommended approval of a 5-year duration permit for 484,000 gallons a day with limiting conditions, such as requiring:
  • Niagara to investigate and participate in the development of supplemental water supply projects that could supply water from other sources to Niagara in the future
  • The implementation of a water conservation plan that would provide for auditing and accounting for all water uses; monitoring for and repairing leaks; leak testing; recycling water used in cooling towers, boilers and heaters; employee education and awareness; use of low flow plumbing fixtures; elimination of landscape irrigation; and annual review and updates of the water conservation plan
• A petition challenging the proposed issuance of a consumptive use permit to Niagara was filed Aug. 11, 2008, by the Lake County Board of County Commissioners and the city of Groveland.
• The District referred the case to the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings (DOAH), which assigned an independent and neutral Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) to conduct a fact-finding hearing.
• In March 2009, Lake County withdrew from the case.
• In April 2009, the ALJ conducted a formal administrative hearing during which the involved parties (city of Groveland, Niagara and the District) testified and presented evidence.
• As part of the hearing, the District entered into the record as evidence more than 1,100 letters and emails from the public opposing and supporting issuance of a permit.
• On Aug. 7, 2009, the ALJ issued a recommended order that recommended that Niagara be granted a five-year permit.
• The District originally had until Sept. 21, 2009, to enter a final order to approve or deny the permit. That deadline was extended to Oct. 14, 2009.
• The District’s executive director on Sept. 25, 2009, signed a final order that approved the permit application.
• On Oct. 23, 2009, the city of Groveland filed a Notice of Administrative Appeal on the issuance of the Niagara Bottling consumptive use permit. The city of Groveland has until Jan. 4, 2010, to file its initial brief in the appeal.
• On Dec. 9, 2009, the city of Groveland filed a voluntary dismissal of its administrative appeal on the issuance of the Niagara Bottling consumptive use permit.

Related information

• News Release – Permit approved for Niagara Bottling (posted Sept. 25, 2009)
• Final order (posted Sept. 25, 2009)
• News Release – Recommended order issued on Niagara permit application (posted Aug. 7, 2009)
• Recommended order (posted Aug. 10, 2009)
• News Release – Petition sends Niagara application to hearing (posted Aug. 11, 2008)
• News Release – Niagara Bottling permit will not be considered Aug. 12 (posted Aug. 5, 2008)
• To access the Niagara Bottling file online, which includes the application, correspondence and supplemental materials, visit the District’s e-Permitting web page and search for application/permit number 2-069-114010-1.
• The administrative hearing process