Most water withdrawals (surface and groundwater) within the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) require a water use permit, unless serving single family residences exclusively. The Johnson Engineering Water Resources team has assisted clients with over 500 water use permit applications during the past 10 years. We have successfully permitted a wide array of projects, ranging from county-scale public water supply systems with multiple sources to short-term roadway construction dewatering—and everything in between, including all scales of agricultural and landscape/golf course irrigation, industrial applications, and dewatering projects.

With three former SFWMD employees on staff, we structure our permit applications to provide water management district staff the information they need to issue a permit without spending project budget on unnecessary academic exercises. We have maintained strong professional relationships with former colleagues at water management districts that help us resolve complex permitting issues through innovative approaches. The networks we have cultivated over decades of experience allow us to engage regulatory agencies and private entities on a client’s behalf. As a result, our turn-around times from application submittal to approved permit usually far surpass those of our competitors.

Toby Schwetje recently joined our team as a permit technician reporting to Kim Arnold, P.G. Prior to his move to Johnson Engineering, Toby worked as a water use permit reviewer at the SFWMD Fort Myers service center, where he reviewed approximately 400 permit applications. Together with Kim and Terry Bengtsson, P.G., both former SFWMD employees themselves, Toby brings the total of water use permits our staff has worked on as either consultants or regulators to well over 2,000. Please contact Kim Arnold, [email protected], to discuss how we can help you with your next water use permitting project.