How can the District ensure that such a strategy of only using water when available can be implemented?
When issuing a consumptive use permit, the District limits the withdrawal of surface water to periods when it is available and protective of MFLs. For instance, the District routinely issues permits to golf courses and agriculture to use storm water and surface water from lakes when available, with the proviso to use groundwater supplies when surface water cannot safely be withdrawn. In the case of public supply utilities, the District has issued consumptive use permits to two public supply utilities that use surface water when available. For many years, the city of Melbourne has been permitted to withdraw water from Lake Washington (one of the lakes on the St. Johns River in Brevard County). Melbourne uses both surface water and brackish groundwater so that its supply is reliable even in the event that surface water is not available from Lake Washington. Similarly, the city of Cocoa has been permitted to use surface water from Taylor Creek Reservoir, a tributary of the St. Johns River
