Middle St. Johns - Florida Department of Environmental Protection

Water Quality Assessment Report: Middle St. Johns
133
Permitted Discharges and Land Uses
Point Sources. There are 34 permitted point source dischargers in the
Lake Woodruff planning unit. Of these, 27 are domestic wastewater facilities,
and 7 are industrial wastewater facilities. Only 1 is permitted under
NPDES (Deland/Wiley Nash). The Deland/Wiley Nash facility (domestic
wastewater) has a permitted capacity of 6.0 mgd, but may only discharge
4.0 mgd into the St. Johns River. Four facilities are allowed to discharge
more than 0.100 mgd: Volusia County Utilities Department (VCUD)/
Southwest Regional (domestic wastewater, permitted to 0.544 mgd into a
noncontributing area), Florida Power Corp DeBary (industrial wastewater
permitted to 0.420 mgd), and VCUD/Four Townes (domestic wastewater,
0.300 mgd into a noncontributing area). Appendix G lists, by planning
unit, the permitted dischargers in the basin.
Two facilities in the planning unit have implemented reuse plans.
These are Deland/Wiley Nash (domestic wastewater, permitted to 6.0 mgd,
reuse for irrigation) and VCUD/Southwest Regional (domestic wastewater,
permitted to 0.544 mgd, public access reuse). The total volume discharged
for reuse is 1.52 mgd, with Deland/Wiley Nash discharging 1.0 mgd and
VCUD/Southwest Regional discharging the remaining 0.52 mgd.
The planning unit contains no Superfund or state-funded hazardous
waste sites; however, there is one closed Class I solid waste landfill as well as
two closed and one active Class III solid waste landfills, with one inactive
and one active construction and debris landfill. One area is delineated for
ground water contamination under Chapter 62-524, F.A.C., Potable Water
Well Permitting in Delineated Areas, for EDB.
Nonpoint Sources. The majority of land use in the planning unit
is a combination of wetlands (35 percent) and upland forest (30 percent).
Other major land uses include urban and built-up (17 percent), agriculture
(10 percent), water (5 percent), and rangeland (2 percent). Less than
1 percent of the total land area is made up of barren land and transportation,
communications, and utilities. These developed land uses can be
associated with nonpoint discharges of pollutants and eroded sediments.
Appendix H provides a detailed analysis of land use in the basin, by planning
unit.
Ecological Summary
The planning unit supports several unique or ecologically imperiled
aquatic species. The rare and imperiled blueback herring (Alosa aestivalis)
has been observed in this portion of the St. Johns River and Lake Woodruff
(Hoehn, 1998). Unique aquatic invertebrate species that are sensitive to
water quality are associated with Blue Spring. These are the Blue Spring
siltsnail (Cincinnatia parva) and the Blue Spring hydrobe (Aphaostracon
asthenes).
Water Quality Improvement Plans and Projects
Two projects are currently under way in the south-central portion of
the planning unit, west of DeLand, to retrofit existing stormwater management
systems. The first, the West Minnesota Avenue Retention Pond
Expansion, will expand the capacity of an existing pond constructed in