HB 1105 proposes to convert the Lake County Water Authority (LCWA) from an independent special district to a dependent district. The LCWA, through their specific focus on only Lake County’s chains of lakes and thousands of other county water bodies, has effectively worked toward implementing the protection and restoration of Lake County’s freshwater resources for over 50 years. The LCWA was ahead of its time when created in the 1950’s and it has continued as a progressive innovator and important stakeholder for the much-needed restoration of the many lakes county wide.

The LCWA is able to successfully implement important water resources projects because

• Water resources restoration and protection are their primary focus.
• As a smaller agency, they can respond to issues much faster than larger entity.
• They do not duplicate efforts, but rather either participate as a stakeholder or take on tasks that no other agency has addressed (such as protection of water resources through land acquisition and cyanobacteria sampling

A transfer of the smaller LCWA to the larger Lake County Board of County Commissioners will result increased bureaucracy that and will not serve the interest of protection and restoration of water resources or the people of Lake County.

Conservation and park lands acquired by the LCWA serve the important functions of water resource protection and recreation, functions which benefit the people of Lake County. The provision in

HB 1105 that would allow for an appointed Board of Advisors “to sell” LCWA acquired lands, given the current cost of land, is not fiscally responsible. Donating land just passes the responsibility for management on to another entity and is not necessary considering the LCWA has an excellent record for managing their lands.

Contact information for reaching Local Administration & Veterans Affairs Subcommittee members is available here.