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EAC-SC Agenda 09/26/2012 Agenda Environmental Advisory Council LDC GMP Subcommittee Wednesday, September 26, 2012, 9 a.m. Conference Rooms 609/610, located at the Growth Management Division, 2800 North Horseshoe Drive, Naples, FL, 34104 1. Welcome 2. Designate a Subcommittee member to take minutes 3. Signup sheet provided —please remind all attendees to signup 4. Approval of Agenda 5. Approval of August 29, 2012 meeting minutes 6. Upcoming absences- Next Subcommittee meeting is scheduled for October 31, 2012 7. Roundtable discussion: Stormwater Management memorandum Other items for discussion 8. Public comment 9. Adjournment • • Collier County Government Communication & Customer Relations 3299 Tamiami Trail East, Suite 102 colliert:ov.net Naples, FL 34112-5746 twitter.com/CollierPIO facebook.com/CollierGov voutube.com/CollierGov September 19,2012 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING COLLIER COUNTY ENVIRONMENTAL ADVISORY COUNCIL COLLIER COUNTY,FLORIDA WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26,2012 9:00 A.M. Notice is hereby given that the Collier County Environmental Advisory Council LDC GMP Subcommittee will meet Wednesday, September 26, at 9:00 a.m. in Conference Rooms 609/610, located at the Growth Management Division, 2800 North Horseshoe Drive, Naples, FL, 34104. In regard to the public meeting: All interested parties are invited to attend, and to register to speak and to submit their objections, if any, in writing, to the board/committee prior to the meeting if applicable. All registered public speakers will be limited to three minutes unless permission for additional time is granted by the chairman. Collier County Ordinance No. 2004-05 requires that all lobbyists shall, before engaging in any lobbying activities (including, but not limited to, addressing the Board of County Commissioners, an advisory board or quasi-judicial board), register with the Clerk to the Board at the Board Minutes and Records Department. Anyone who requires an auxiliary aid or service for effective communication, or other reasonable accommodations in order to participate in this proceeding, should contact the Collier County Facilities Management Department located at 3335 Tamiami Trail East, Naples, Florida 34112, or 239-252-8380 as soon as possible, but no later than 48 hours before the scheduled event. Such reasonable accommodations will be provided at no cost to the individual. For more information, call Stephen Lenberger at(239) 252-2915 or Jerry Kurtz at (239) 252-5860. -End- Minutes for August 29, 2012 EAC GMP Subcommittee Attending members: Andrew Dickman, David Bishof, Gary McNally County Staff: Jerry Kurtz Public: Bob Krasowski;Judy Hushon; Jeremy Frantz,Conservancy of SWFL 1. The subcommittee discussed changes to the draft Stormwater Management memo. These changes were forwarded to the EAC for their review. Andrew will make any changes discussed today(August 29) and at the EAC Regular Meeting(September 5). These changes will be sent out and will be reviewed at the next Subcommittee meeting on September 26`h. The EAC will finalize the memo at the next regularly scheduled EAC meeting on October 3, 2012. 2. See Stormwater Management memo attached. TRANSMITTAL MEMORANDUM DATE: 1'O: Collier County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) Collier County Planning Commission (CPC) FROM: Andrew Dickman, Chair Collier County Environmental Advisory Council (EAC) RE: Stormwater Management Pursuant to Section 2-1193(a) of the Collier County Code of Ordinances, the EAC is authorized to "Identify, study, evaluate, and provide technical recommendations to the BCC on programs necessary for the conservation, management, and protection of air, land, and water resources and environmental quality in the County." The EAC seeks to raise awareness to environmental issues that should be assessed more thoroughly and evaluated in comparison with abutting counties listed below that may impact Collier County. The EAC hopes this memorandum will stimulate additional public debate and inspire new policy. Please find attached our summary report in connection with stormwater management and land use planning. The EAC's recommendations are on page 5 of the report. 1 STORMWATER MANAGEMENT Pollution discharge into natural water systems is a nationwide and local concern. "The objective of this Act is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation's waters." Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. §1251 et seq. (1972) Introduction (applied irrigation and precipitation). When we water our yards, water our landscaping, and water our agriculture, or during rainfall, any water that isn't absorbed into the ground must flow somewhere depending on the nature of the watershed topography and existing man-made infrastructure. This "runoff" typically collects and transports one or more types of pollutants. How we manage runoff has dire public health and environmental consequences. Prior to intensified urbanization, surface waters flowed through wetlands in Collier County and into four primary estuaries.' Intense development over the past 70 years, including the extensive canal construction has substantially altered natural drainage patterns into these estuaries. Now all but the Ten Thousand Islands estuary are impaired with at least one type of dangerous pollutant directly linked to urbanization. Collier County Watershed Management Plan The Watershed Management Plan (WMP)2 was developed to protect water resource quality and quantity within each drainage area or watershed and the related receiving estuaries. The WMP identifies serious environmental and public health issues including: 1) Excessive fresh water discharges from canals (including ground water discharges)especially to Naples Bay; 2) Reduced protection provided by current surface water systems; 3) Pollutant loading associated with development may degrade water quality due to pollutant loading associated with development and agriculture; and 4) Aquifer impacts due to canal discharge, reduced ground water recharge, and potable and agricultural withdrawal demands. Correcting these issues unequivocally depends on our present and future decisions managing stormwater and irrigation runoff. Wiggins Pass Naples Bay, Rookery Bay, and Ten Thousand Islands (north to south). There are other smaller and important estuaries along our coastline that require equal protection. 2 Prepared by Collier County Stormwater and Environmental Planning Section and Atkins North America, finalized November 2011 and accepted by the BCC on December 13, 2011. The WMP is online at www.colIiergov.net/Index.aspx?page=2302. 1 Growth Management. The WMP links land use with pollution in the "down stream" estuaries that are vital to this community. Collier's population increased 32.5% between 2000 and 2010. Florida's rate was 17.6%. Collier's 2010 total population is estimated at 285,000, and population growth is projected to be 334,000 in the year 2020, or a 17.2% increase. Florida's projected growth rate is 10%.3 Looking within Collier County, population growth directly impacts specific watersheds and receiving estuaries. Growth management planning is essential to accommodate new development because appropriate future land use is the key to, among other things, restoring and then protecting our estuaries from anthropogenic impacts. Planning Community' 2010 2020 Change Growth Rate NN -North Naples 55,041 59,559 4,518 8.2% SN- South Naples 28,689 36,416 7,727 26.9% CN -Central Naples 18,845 19,668 823 4.4% EN - East Naples 22,320 22,602 282 1.3% GG -Golden Gate 44,925 47,265 2,340 5.2% UE- Urban Estates 38,658 44,074 5,416 14.0% RE- Rural Estates 34,739 1,330 3.8% 2AfAQ M -Marco 1,219 1,240 21 1.7% RF- Royal Fakapalm 11,797 19,610 7,813 66.2% C -Corkscrew 4,550 21,368 16,818 369.6% I - Immokalee 24,154 26,317 2,163 9.0% BC - Big Cypress 233 268 35 15.0% Intra County and Regional Coordination. Collier County is diverse. With urbanized, rural fringe, rural, agricultural, and conservation areas. We have both incorporated cities and unincorporated areas. Growth management and stormwater management coordination is imperative. Uncoordinated decisions in one area likely will impact other areas. Preparation for population growth countywide within planning areas is vital. Understanding how other counties in our 3 Source: Florida Bureau of Business and Economic Research. Source: Collier County Growth Management Division. 2 region accommodate development and manage stormwater is a necessity. The following provides a snapshot of regional stormwater strategies and offers recommendations for Collier County. The WMP was developed to satisfy a Growth Management Plan commitment to assess and protect water resources. The project was funded in 2007. Atkins (formerly PBSJ) was hired in 2009 to update the Big Cypress Basin hydrologic / hydraulic model, and develop the WMP. They reviewed existing reports, evaluated existing water resource conditions and developed alternatives to restore or mitigate identified problems. The WMP in and of itself is not intended to be regulatory. The WMP recommended initiatives may lead to regulations and/or regulatory policies. The recommendations serve as a guide in developing policies, programs, ordinances or regulations to restore and protect Collier water resources. Collier County The WMP demonstrated that Collier County's major problem with water quality is nutrient pollution. A recently prepared nutrient budget for Collier County demonstrated that the major sources of Phosphorous pollution are citrus, high density residential housing and field crops, in that order. For Nitrogen, the major contributors are citrus, field crops and residential-low density housing. The contributions to nutrient pollution from agriculture are more than twice that of urban contributions. Collier County recently enacted a Fertilizer Ordinance designed to reduce contributions in the urban area, but steps are also needed to reduce contributions from agriculture. A comparison of Lee's GMP and land development regulations with those of Collier County regarding stormwater strategies suggests that both counties seem to be complying with applicable regulations. How each county funds stormwater management is different. Lee County is divided into "drainage districts" and charges a stormwater tax according to impact within these Lee County districts. It should be noted that Sarasota County also charges a stormwater tax countywide. It appears eight to 10 Florida counties have taxes in place dedicated to improving and managing stormwater. South Florida Water Management District was instrumental in determining the drainage districts and appropriate taxes for Lee County. 3 Map series, quality and timeliness in Charlotte County is outstanding. The maps clearly show re-charge areas. In an effort to preserve floodplain areas, wetlands and aquifer re-charge areas, Charlotte County Charlotte limits development in those impacted areas. Charlotte County development in western part of the county concentrates on urban revitalization and infill encouraging development where stormwater management is already in place. Compromises in Miami-Dade stormwater system and aging infrastructure problems related to the stormwater system have been identified by the South Florida Regional Planning Council. The Everglades Plan to restore water flow will have a minor impact on the Big Cypress area in Collier County. Miami-Dade County Southeast Florida is focusing on very expensive and retroactive `fixes' for their stormwater and related infrastructure problems. As Collier County urbanizes, policies must prevent stormwater issues rather than "fixing"them after the fact. Monroe County requires that new single family and duplex homes located in subdivisions that do not have an existing stormwater management system must provide an on site stormwater management plan. Alterations of existing facilities which result in an increase in impervious area also fall under this requirement. Monroe County has an abundance of existing subdivisions which have not been built out. Most of these subdivisions were designed Monroe County prior to requirements for including stormwater treatment systems. As these subdivisions are built out there would be tendencies for the quantity of stormwater coming off them to increase while the quality deteriorates. The requirement for all new development to provide for stormwater treatment tends to reduce this problem. A similar requirement in'Collier County would tend to reduce the trend in some of the existing large subdivisions that have many vacant lots to have increasing problems with flooding and deteriorating water quality at no significant cost to the County. 4 The Sarasota Stormwater Management Plan illustrates the County's uses of multiple infrastructure for stormwater management: soft drainage approach, natural drainage ways, man made lakes, canals, road swales, and larger drainage pipes. Sarasota uses flooding protocols throughout the county. The County uses side berms to allow greater flows during flood event. Sarasota County Sarasota employs multiple flood control methods: larger lakes for better storage, over bank spillways, weir outflow structures, man made canals, larger road swales configured as a pan bottom, and canal flow structures. Sarasota has identified the following strategies for future improvements: reducing flow restrictions construction of new canals, and replace bridges that restrict flow. Recommendations. 1. Prepare a Collier County Low Impact Development Manual and then adopt Land Development Codes to implement innovative, cost neutral, onsite stormwater management. 2. Require onsite stormwater management, such as retention areas, for new construction in older subdivisions without treatment systems, rather than spending public funds on expensive swales and canals. 3. Adopt and implement growth management strategies, including incentives to direct new development into existing urban areas where stormwater management infrastructure is already in place. 4. Divide County into "drainage districts" and charge a stormwater tax according to impact within these districts. 5. Protect natural groundwater recharge areas by preserving natural sheet flow, particularly in areas of project high growth rates. 6. Work with the Water Management District to identify and implement strategies for reducing nutrient pollution from agricultural operations (citrus and row crops) keeping harmful nutrients out of existing stormwater management systems. 5