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Comprehensive Plan Potable Water Sub-Element <br /> <br /> <br />Community Development Department Indian River County 8 <br /> <br />Table 3.B.1 <br />2006 Water Withdrawal Table <br />Indian River County <br /> <br />USE <br />Million <br />Gallons/Year Percentage of Total <br />Permitted Withdrawals <br />Potable Water 5,819.63 8.01% <br />Agricultural (includes nurseries, livestock, <br />aquaculture) 59,808.99 82.31% <br />Rec., Golf, Commercial/Industrial, <br />Other 7,030.74 9.68% <br />Total 72,659.36 100% <br /> <br />While 72.7 billion gallons of groundwater were permitted for withdrawal in 2006, that does not <br />account for private wells that exist, but are not subject to permitting by the SJRWMD. It is also <br />possible that there are a significant number of wells that were put in place prior to the county’s or the <br />SJRWMD’s permitting requirements. Those wells have never been regulated and may be in need of <br />substantial repairs to ensure that old well casings are not leaking untreated water from the Upper <br />Floridan aquifer into the Surficial aquifer. <br /> <br />According to the St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD), there are 1,657 permitted <br />wells that are 6 inches in diameter or greater in Indian River County. Currently, the Environmental <br />Health Department permits wells that are 2 inches or less in diameter. Between 1995 and 2006, the <br />Environmental Health Department issued 12,065 well permits, 4,272 of which were domestic water <br />supply wells; the remaining permits were for irrigation wells. Over the last 5 years, the number of <br />permits for domestic wells decreased by approximately 20%, to an annual average of 310 permits. <br />This is due largely to the expansion of the county’s regional potable water system. <br /> <br />At this time, potable water quality in all regional systems meets or exceeds safe drinking water <br />standards. Since 1998, there have been no reported instances of privately owned or public water <br />plant failures in the county. <br /> <br />Following is a brief description of the four regional potable water areas within the county. <br /> <br />Indian River County Water System <br /> <br />Indian River County operates the largest potable water system in the county. This system <br />consists of two service areas. Those service areas are discussed below. <br /> <br />