Water versus Development in Florida
2002; Volume: 4; Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
1523-9748
Autores Tópico(s)Economic and Environmental Valuation
ResumoAbstract Water consumption in Florida has been governed by a political institutional arrangement since 1972. In 1983, Consumptive Use Permitting was added to assure that new uses of would be: reasonable and/or beneficial; not interfere with present legal uses; and within the public interest. The tradeoff is that must provide for different human activities, yet have adequate supplies to maintain the natural environment. Florida is also a high growth state where economic development is significant. This study examines in Florida at two points in time, 1980 and 1990 to see the impact of the governance institutional system, economic development, and land use on freshwater withdrawal. There is cautious optimism that in the 1990 model, withdrawal showed a slight movement towards the governance institutional arrangement. Introduction Florida is a state. This is one of the attractions to visitors. According to Donald Patton and Rodney DeHan (1998: pp. 11-12), there are 1,197 miles of coastline, 7,700 lakes greater than 10 acres, more than 1,700 streams, 3 million acres of wetlands, and 27 first-magnitude springs (those with flows exceeding 100 cubic feet per second). All this supports a vast array of unique and fragile ecosystems and in the 1980s supported approximately forty million visitors a year (Betz, 1984). So, why are there talks of water wars in central Florida (Patton and DeHan, 1998: p. 12)? Florida is also a high growth state (deHaven-Smith, 1998). There is a strong historical link between Florida's growth, economy, land use patterns, and resource use (Audirac, 1990; Blake, 1980; deHaven-Smith, 1998; Price and Feiock, 1994). Since 1972, resources in Florida have been managed through an institutional arrangement to assure ample supply for both people and the natural environment. This study examines the link between management, withdrawal, and economic development in Florida. The question addressed is: Does the Florida management institutions promote economic development and increased withdrawals or function as an institutional constraint on increased withdrawals? Historically as a sparsely populated marshy, swampy state, Florida needed to entice permanent residents. Tourists would come during the winter months, since the warm climate and coastal location were attractive, but to attract permanent residents the state needed to develop the land and provide employment (deHaven-Smith, 1998). Thus, economic development to provide population growth became the paramount focus in the history of Florida's governing structure. From 1979 to 1993, public opinion polls listed economic problems and community development as two of the top three issues facing the state. According to Ivonne Audirac (1990: p. 50), [f]rom 1880 to 1980 Florida changed from 90 percent rural to 85 percent urban, with almost half of the residents living in unincorporated areas. She contends the urban areas were not centered around traditional manufacturing enterprises but, tourism, and population growth, of which 'footloose' retirees comprise a large segment, has resulted in historic urban patterns that are predominately residential and low density (Audirac, 1990: p. 50). Nelson Blake (1980: pp. 285-286) noted that population growth benefited interests such as landowners, developers, construction, and the banking industry. In the past, the supply of was not the problem. In many cases, the problem for development was too much in the wrong place. Central and South Florida were constantly plagued by flooding and drainage problems, and supply was only a problem during times of drought (DeGrove, 1958: pp. 1-2). The Swamp and Overflow Lands Act of 1850 transferred twenty million acres of submerged lands from the federal government to the state of Florida for flood control, drainage, and reclamation (Canter and Christie, 1984: p. …
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