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Comprehensive Plan Potable Water Sub-Element Community Development Department Indian River County 31 disposing concentrate from the South County RO plant. Currently, the county is under a consent order from FDEP to relocate concentrate out of south relief canal within two years. To achieve that reduction, the county will need to consider several options for south county brine disposal. These options are: creating another marsh treatment system, establishing a county deep well injection system, mixing brine with reuse water, or entering into a partnership with the City of Vero Beach for deep well injection in the city’s deep wells. Given the probability of the county having to address the South County R.O. plant brine discharge, the county should evaluate each of the referenced options. Water Conservation Generally, an increase in per capita potable water use is not a good trend. Such an increase could deplete water supply sources faster. To conserve water supply sources, the county needs to ensure that water is used more efficiently. One way to do that is to emphasize use of reclaimed water and treated stormwater for irrigation purposes. If more stormwater is retained on development sites and used for irrigation, groundwater supplies will be recharged, and stormwater flows to surface waterbodies will be reduced. In conjunction with common water conservation practices, utilizing stormwater and reclaimed water for irrigation purposes will enhance water resource preservation. Recently, the St. Johns River Water Management District established a water conservation program called Florida Water Star. This program focuses on new residential construction and is intended to provide water-efficient options for homes and landscaping. This is a voluntary program that home builders may participate in. Since this program can enhance water conservation efforts, the county should encourage home builders to participate in the program. In so doing, the county should provide builders an incentive to participate in the Florida Water Star Program by expediting permit reviews for participating builders. Private Plants As indicated in the background section of this Sub-Element, the reason that the county started providing potable water services was due to problems at private treatment plants. In many cases, the problems with private plants were due to the operational aspects of the plants, rather than with the plants themselves. Because of those problems and their environmental impacts, the County Utilities Department has decommissioned 26 private plants. When those private plants were decommissioned, the former customers of those plants were connected to the county system. Currently, only three private plants continue to operate. To avoid a repeat of past problems, to ensure the financial viability of the regional system, and to discourage urban sprawl, new private plants are generally prohibited within the urban service area. Consistent with provisions of the Future Land Use Element of this plan, private plants may be