Welcome from Regional Council President

The Honorable Harold Rutledge

Greetings and thank you for your interest in Notheast Florida Regional Water Supply Summit:  The Future of the St. Johns River.

As you are aware there is a proposal to withdraw up to 261 million gallons per day from the St. Johns and Ocklawaha Rivers to help satisfy the potable water needs of Central Florida in the year 2013 and beyond. 

Recently there has been a great deal of media coverage on this issue and communities in Northeast Florida are individually taking positions on the withdrawal proposal.

The purpose of this Water Supply Summit is to become further educated on the issue, to determine if there is a common position that can be developed for our region and to plan for next steps.

On Friday, January 25, 2008, we held the Summit at the World Golf Village from 1:00 - 5:00 pm.  The event was extremely well attended and it is my hope that through the efforts of this event that local governement Chief Elected Officials, stakeholders and other interested parties were able to convene, discuss and discuss how to respond to one of our most precious natural resources:  The St. Johns River.

Please continue to utilize this Web site as a resource for information regarding this issue.  We will continue to update it periodically and welcome your feedback.

Sincerely,

The Honorable Harold Rutledge

President, Northeast Florida Regional Council

Clay County Commissioner