The Alachua County Stormwater Treatment Manual was publicly reviewed Monday during a joint meeting with the Alachua County Commission and City of Newberry.
Officials made no decision about its adoption, but commissioners plan to meet in the coming months with Stormwater Management Program officials to further discuss the manual's benefits and costs.
The manual outlines advanced stormwater treatment design standards in order for Alachua County springs and lakes to become less polluted over time, said Chris Bird, the director of the Alachua County Environmental Protection Department.
Bird said the pollution levels of springs and lakes in Alachua County are below the average of the guidelines set by the state of Florida for bodies of water.
“Out of all the things the county can do, stormwater treatment is where we can make the biggest difference,” Bird said. “Our lakes and springs have reached their carrying capacity where they got too much pollution as determined by the state.”
The manual was first proposed in October after the county commission asked what could be done to reduce pollution in area waters. During Monday's meeting, commissioners showed concern over who would be responsible for paying for the new systems.
Wendy Kisner, the principal planner and grants manager for the City of Newberry, said people are conflicted whether it’s worth the price.
“We see that the county really feels there’s a need, but there’s a conflict in many people’s minds about the water management district versus what the county is trying to do,” she said.
Bird said developers would pay for a part of the new technologies.
“I think the concern we heard is that if the price goes up too much, then that’s going to make the cost of a new home cost more,” he said. “For example, if it’s part of a development, then the developer has to pass their cost off to customers.”
Darryl Bowdoin, the operations manager at Little River (a manufacturing company), said he thinks pollution is the state's fault.
“I live on the Suwannee River, and yes, it needs to be cleaned up, but the state needs to do their part to start with,” he said.
During Tropical Storm Colin, Bowdoin said his home area received six inches of rain, but not one drop of water was left in the nearby retention pond, even though the pond is designed to hold storm water.
When rainwater runs through various substances like fertilizer, pet waste, car oil or air toxins, pollutants are picked up and carried into the aquifers. Nitrogen and phosphorous, specifcially, are two pollutants that can enter county waters and cause serious issues.
“The big concern about these two pollutants is that they’re kind of like fertilizer: they’re feeding this algae that we don’t want to grow in the water,” Bird said. “Some of this algae can be toxic, cause eye irritation and even be poisonous.”
Through advanced stormwater treatment design standards, the designs of development and landscape will change to prevent pollutants from getting into the water in the first place, Bird said.
New stormwater treatment designs could include permeable pavements, which allows water to seep through a parking lot's asphalt.
“A lot of the pollution would get trapped, and then it can biodegrade,” Bird said.
In addition to permeable pavements, Bird also advocates the use of a new technique called denitrification.
“Basically you’re taking the nitrogen that’s dissolved in the water, and through a microbiological process, you’re converting that nitrogen to gas, which is safe because our atmosphere is almost 80 percent nitrogen,” he said.
Bowdoin said he knows very little about the plan, but believes the price is going to get passed on to the homeowner.
“We’re looking at the numbers and we don’t think it’s going to be that much, but I think the whole thing is the age-old question of who should pay for pollution,” Bird said.
Bird is going to meet with stakeholders and developers soon, hoping by fall to go to the commission with comprehensive information about the systems.
“Like the mayor said, we hope we can come up with something they believe in,” he said. “We’re just not there yet.”