Florida is divided into five water management districts, which are dedicated to the preservation and management of Florida's precious water resources.

ERP - Who Does What?

All Environmental Resource Program (ERP) permitting and state-owned submerged lands authorizations are now done in the district offices of the Department and in the St. Johns River, Suwannee River, Northwest Florida, South Florida, and Southwest Florida Water Management Districts.  Operating Agreements between the Department and the water management districts spell out which agency will process any given application.  Under those agreements, the Department generally reviews and takes actions on applications involving:

• Solid waste, hazardous waste, domestic waste, and industrial waste facilities
• Mining (except borrow pits that do not involve on-site material grading or sorting)
• Power plants, transmission and communication cables and lines, and natural gas and petroleum exploration, production, and distribution lines and facilities
• Docking facilities and attendant structures and dredging that are not part of a larger plan of residential or commercial development
• Navigational dredging conducted by governmental entities, except when part of a larger project that a WMD has the responsibility to permit
• Systems serving only one single-family dwelling unit or residential unit not part of a larger common plan of development
• Systems located in whole or in part seaward of the coastal construction control line
• Seaports, and
• Smaller, separate water-related activities not part of a larger plan of development (such as boat ramps, mooring buoys, and artificial reefs)

The water management districts review and take action on all the other ERP applications.  Staff of the Department and the districts will be happy to help applicants determine the appropriate agency for an application. 
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• Permitting portal for Florida’s water management districts.