How should we spend Amendment One funds?

Editorial

By Bryan Nelson

After passing Amendment One (a mandate that dedicates funds to acquire and restore Florida conservation and recreation lands) almost a year ago, there are still many questions about how the money should be spent. Some think we should buy more conservation land, but most people believe that money spent to protect our water quality is of utmost importance. Living in Central Florida with our springs, lakes, and rivers we place a great importance on protecting our water bodies for generations to come. We have held several meetings on how to address water quality and how it impacts our lives. There are four major areas where Amendment One dollars could be used to enhance our water quality in the region and the state.

First, drainage wells have been placed in areas to prevent flooding but allow unfiltered runoff to descend directly into our aquifer. These must be either capped or filtered to reduce the contaminants that move directly into our drinking water supply. In the Wekiva Basin alone we have 16 drainage wells which contribute to the problems with our water quality.

Second, we must address septic systems state-wide which could be a source of nitrogen and phosphorus pollution to our groundwater. If we required all septic tanks state-wide to upgrade their system to an enhanced bio-reactive media at the time of drainfield failure, we could reduce the nitrogen runoff by 70 percent and the phosphorus by 90 percent for a cost of $3,000 per system. This alternative provides for six times as much nitrogen removal for every dollar spent as compared to converting to sewer. Based on Department of Health data for a cost of $57 million a year, the Amendment One dollars could help all homeowners state-wide to upgrade almost 19,000 septic systems which failed last year. The homeowner would still be responsible for repairing the required drainfield but the additional bio-reactive media drainfield could be paid for with Amendment One dollars at a much lower cost if done together. The alternative to upgrading the existing systems would be to take all septic tanks offline and hook them to sewer but this would cost upwards of TWO BILLION dollars for just the Wekiva Basin’s 60,000 systems. This bio-reactive media has also been shown to greatly reduce the nitrogen and phosphorus if placed under retention ponds.

Third, we must take inefficient sewer package plants offline and upgrade current sewer plants to meet the 3mg/liter of nitrogen runoff requirement.

Lastly, we must do a better job of educating our homeowners about how they can help by not over fertilizing, reducing landscape watering, blowing leaves and grass clippings back into our yards instead of the street, and disposing of pet waste properly.

With help from the State Department of Environmental Protection, Water Management Districts, and funding from Amendment One we can make a positive difference for our springs, lakes, rivers, estuaries, and lagoons for all Floridians.

Bryan Nelson is a life-long Floridian and graduate of the University of Florida, where he got his degree in Ornamental Horticulture. In 1997 he and his wife Debbie founded Nelson’s Insurance Services, which they continue to run today. Bryan was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2006 and served his last term in 2014. He represented District 31 which includes Tavares, Eustis, Mt. Dora, Apopka, Astor, and Umatilla. He served as Chairman of the Insurance and Banking Committee from 2010-2014. He also served on the Government Operations Appropriations Subcommittee, the Health Quality Subcommittee, the Regulatory Affairs Committee, and the Select Committee on the Affordable Care Act. On November 4, 2014, he was elected to serve as County Commissioner for Orange County District 2 which includes Apopka, Ocoee, Eatonville, and Northwest Orange County. In 2018, he was elected Mayor of Apopka.