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Board of County Commissioners Meeting Minutes - Final April 20, 2021 The Board sought and received information from Mr. Adair on the monitoring of wells and the survey. Commissioner Earman understood the need for an updated county -wide geohydrologic survey, but he questioned the urgency and the process in which the request was presented to the Board. Commissioner Moss confirmed that her request followed the recent IRSWCD meeting and she again read from the Comp Plan regarding the schedule for contacting the USGS for geohydrologic surveys. County Administrator Jason Brown was agreeable to the request for an updated geohydrologic survey, and stated that it was necessary to know the costs involved. Utility Services Director Vincent Burke stated for the record that he had a scheduling conflict with the City of Sebastian and was unable to attend the recent IRSWCD meeting. He indicated the District was working on the Regional Water Supply Plan (the Plan) to update the surficial groundwater level as well as the water use throughout the east central water area. He mentioned that the County had been in contact with the USGS for the survey, but for the water use and types of users, the District had continued to provide updates. He recommended waiting for the District's Plan to look at the water use, and then suggested scheduling a Town Hall meeting to go over the results of the analysis and summary of findings. Staff could then decide whether or not the County would need to look at other, surface water, desalination, or deeper wells for the water uses for now and for the next 20 years. Commissioner Adams reiterated Commissioner Earman's comments and provided a synopsis of what happened at the IRSWCD meeting. She responded that there needed to be additional information on the costs, timing, etc., before she felt comfortable moving forward with a geohydrologic survey. She also agreed with Director Burke's suggestion to look from a regional level and at the District's summary of findings. Commissioner Moss invited members from the IRSWCD and the District to address the Board. Mr. Lex Kromhout recalled the IRSWCD meeting, noting the intent of the presentation was to recommend a hydrology study to see what was under the County in terms of water availability. He spoke of a summary provided by Mr. Mike Zeigler on the consequences of adding more wells and further impacting the land owners and current well users in the area. He felt the future of the County's water needs were highly dependent on the Board's outlook of the County's water sources. Indian River County Florida Page 21