Court: Florida Water Managers Need No NPDES Permit

On appeal, the district Thursday won its case against a lower court that ruled an NPDES permit is required for the pumping stations, which move polluted water from the Everglades Agricultural Area canals into Lake Okeechobee.

In a case brought by Friends of the Everglades and the Miccosukee Tribe, U.S. District Court Judge Cecilia Altonaga ruled in 2007 that a NPDES permit is required by the South Florida Water Management District to continue operating pumping stations S-2, S-3 and S-4.

The C-111 canal drains from north to south through the agricultural area between Homestead, Florida and Everglades National Park. (Photo courtesy USGS)

The trial lasted nearly two months and involved more than a dozen expert witnesses and 150 exhibits.

Judge Altonaga issued a 107-page ruling concluding that the Everglades Agricultural Area canals and Lake Okeechobee - the water bodies connected by the S-2, S-3, and S-4 pumps - were meaningfully distinct water bodies, and that the pumps required an NPDES permit because they moved pollutants from the canals into the lake.

In compliance with Judge Altonaga's order, the district applied to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for an NPDES permit and also filed a Notice of Appeal to the order to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which heard arguments on January 16, 2009 and handed down its decision on Thursday.

The South Florida Water Management District issued a statement saying it is "pleased with the Court's decision to support the local management of local water resources."

"This is a landmark case of national significance that has implications not only for Lake Okeechobee but also for water management throughout Florida and beyond," the district said in the statement.

"Moving water is an essential public service, providing communities with flood control, water supply and environmental restoration. Florida's robust regulatory system already effectively ensures that water management activities comply with State law and adhere to the standards of the federal Clean Water Act," the district said.

Joined by the U.S. Department of Justice, the State of Florida and other states, including California and Colorado, the South Florida Water Management District argued that the Clean Water Act never intended for NPDES permitting to apply to water management activities. The judges of the 11th Circuit agreed.

"As the district has maintained, Congress 35 years ago rightly entrusted the states to manage their waters for the benefit and protection of their citizens - without burdening taxpayers with additional layers of federal oversight that add no environmental benefits," said the district. The court found reasonable the Environmental Protection Agency's views that state programs are a more sensible approach than the NPDES program."

The Clean Water Act is structured to hold polluters responsible for limiting the introduction of waste from entering the nation’s waters, the district maintains, adding that Congress never intended to put responsibility for pollution control on state or local water managers who transfer and manage water resources for public safety and uses.

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