Preserving the natural environment has always been a priority for Commissioner Boyd. Growing up among the citrus groves and vast green spaces in West Orange County, he has worked hard to protect our natural resources as District 1 continues to grow.
Commissioner Boyd has focused on water quality improvements in Lakes O'Dell, Floy and Cane with the help of Orange County’s Environmental Protection Division (EPD). In addition, he secured supplemental funding for the Oakland Nature Preserve, which features 130 acres of wetlands and uplands that are being restored. The preserve is free to the public for nature walks, self-guided tours, bird watching and many formal and informal programs.
In 2005, Orange County Utilities began an extensive effort to develop plans for alternate water sources in Orange County due to the prediction that the primary source of drinking water in Florida (the Floridian Aquifer) would reach its sustainable level by 2013. Research at the University of Florida and in other areas of the U.S. has shown that Smart Irrigation Controllers have the potential to conserve water by efficiently scheduling irrigation.
Since more than 50 percent of the residential water use is for irrigation, Orange County Utilities became interested in Smart Irrigation Controllers as a potential practice to reduce landscape irrigation water use with residential customers. Commissioner Boyd is a strong proponent of this study.
Coming from an agricultural background, he realizes the great importance of water conservation and has been instrumental in gaining support for the project, which was approved by the Board of County Commissioners in August of 2009 and he continues to champion the effort.
Customer water use is being tracked for at least a three-year period and recommendations will be made to the Water Management Districts to support any potential rulemaking regarding the use of Smart Irrigation Devices.
As of February 2014, Utilities began to survey all 167 study participants to gain valuable insight about the products being tested and the study overall. The completed dataset is being analyzed and the final report for Phase I of the project will be completed by December 2014.
This project is collaboration between Orange County, the University of Florida, the Water Research Foundation and the South Florida and St. Johns River Water Management Districts, among others.
For more information, view the most current report on the Smart Irrigation Study.
Scheduled to begin in 2014, the Lake Down Sub-basin 9 is located on the east side of Lake Down, within the Cypress Creek and Butler Chain of Lakes drainage basins. The Butler Chain of Lakes study, conducted in 2007, identified the Lake Down Sub-basin 9 as a source of pollutants (phosphorous) to the Butler Chain.
In June 2013, AMEC, Inc. was contracted by Orange County to identify the source of the elevated total phosphorus concentrations in the Lake Down Sub-basin 9 and to develop conceptual management recommendations to reduce the phosphorus concentrations and loadings discharging from Sub-basin 9 into Lake Down.
The final study report was submitted to Orange County in April 2014, and AMEC presented its findings at the May 19 Butler Chain of Lakes Advisory Board meeting.
In 2007, Orange County purchased the Johns Lake Conservation Area through the Green PLACE (Park Land Acquisition for Conservation and Environmental Protection) Program. Johns Lake Conservation Area is located at 880 Avalon Road in Winter Garden. It is adjacent to Johns Lake and connected to Lake Tilden and Black Lake.
Future plans for the property include restoring the wet prairie system impacted by past land uses and opening the property for passive public recreational use. Green PLACE is in the beginning stages of planning the passive recreational uses for the parcel, which are scheduled to begin 2015. Recreation will include fishing, canoeing, kayaking and hiking while offering observation opportunities of the many different species of birds and wildlife.
Commissioner S. Scott Boyd 201 S. Rosalind Ave., 5th Floor Orlando, FL 32801 Email: district1@ocfl.net Phone: (407) 836-7350 Fax: (407) 836-5879
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