RECOMMENDATIONS:
1996 WRWSA REGIONAL WATER SUPPLY MASTER PLAN

The WRWSA fulfills two somewhat distinct roles for its member governments: to assist in the development of water supplies; and to help protect the natural resource and properly plan for its utilization. The following recommendations have been organized in that fashion.

Development of Water Supply
In its role as a developer of water supplies, the WRWSA expects to take the following actions:

1. Meet with staff and elected officials of each county and municipality to exchange ideas and determine what assistance could be provided by the WRWSA in meeting their existing and future needs for- water supply. The WRWSA could fill or assist in any or all of the following roles.

   1. Preparing a water supply facility plan

   2. Site selection, modeling and permitting for a wellfield

   3. Funding

   4. Design and construction

   5. Operation
   
   

2. Encourage and/or provide technical assistance to each county and their municipalities in the intra-county interconnection of their wellfields and water transmission lines.

3. Help develop design criteria for wellfields, storage facilities, major transmission line and their interconnection.

4. Develop a plan to retain local or WRWSA control of the transport of water outside the region if such transport appears to be imminent.

5. Meet with each member government to review the Master Plan water supply scenarios and modify the scenarios, if requested.

6. Maintain and upgrade the groundwater flow model and assist the member governments in analyzing prospective well sites.
   
   

Resource Protection and Planning
The following portion of the Master Plan recommendation section provides measures whereby the WRWSA, its constituent governments and other entities could help to protect and properly plan for the water supply resources of the Withlacoochee region. One should refer to the Master Plan document housed at the Withlacoochee Regional Planning Council library to review these measures.

The actions proposed in the Master Plan are meant to accomplish the following goals, established by the WRWSA as part of this Master Plan:

• Increase the control local government has over aquifer protection and water supply as a component of growth management through comprehensive planning.
• Establish a set of priorities in the search for new water supplies, with "local sources" being utilized first.
• Ensure a much greater level of intergovernmental coordination during the water use planning and permitting processes.
• Provide guidelines to indicate the steps that must be taken prior to an approval of an inter-jurisdictional transfer of water.
• Ensure that local needs are identified and protected through the long-term planning horizons.
• Empower the comprehensive planning process by tying together land use and water supply planning efforts.
• Improve the data base and mapping of the water supply resource and its characteristics.