Name

South Florida Water Management District

3301 Gun Club Road

West Palm Beach, Florida 33416-4680

Dear XXX,

On behalf of the Southwest Florida Watershed Council, I am requesting information on initiating a process by which a Consumptive Use Permit may be issued to the Caloosahatchee River for river flow to the Caloosahatchee/San Carlos Bay/Charlotte Harbor Estuarine Complex.

The permit will be for approximately 800,000 acre feet a year, to be delivered with a seasonal variation that will average 500 cfs in the dry season, 2500 cfs in the wet season, and 1250 cfs year around.

The purpose of the permit is to provide the system standing as the Everglades Restoration starts allocating water to "existing users" as the first priority.  Although we don't understand how Nature isn't considered an existing user of a natural resource, we are willing to put in place the
necessary legal recognition that this largest component of our economic base needs.

We are also seeking a public agency that would hold the permit for the River/Estuary and would appreciate some advice.  Should the Florida Department of Environmental Protection be the holder, or the District itself, or some third party Public entity which is assured to have its
public decision making, in public and in the River watershed?

We look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Noel Andress

Chairman

The mission of the Southwest Florida Watershed Council is to protect, conserve, manage and/or

restore the land and water resources of the Caloosahatchee and Big Cypress Watersheds through participation and cooperation of all stakeholders in consensus building, planning, and decision making to meet the

economic, natural and cultural needs for this and succeeding generations.