Citrus County, FL Environmental Rules: Erosion Control (2026)

Sec. 6220(K) of Chapter Six, Stormwater Management, of the Citrus County Land Development Code, "Erosion and Sedimentation Control," requires every development application to include temporary and permanent erosion and sediment control plans specifying the measures to be used during clearing, grading, filling, construction, and permanent development, and describing how they'll operate. The plans must follow the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's "Florida Stormwater Erosion and Sedimentation Control Inspectors Manual" and the Florida Department of Transportation's Drainage Manual. No clearing, grading, excavating, or filling of natural terrain is allowed until the county has approved and the applicant has installed the required measures, and those measures must be continuously maintained during the entire construction phase, covering street and utility work as well as protection of individual lots.

Parcels next to a spring, spring run, or sinkhole open to the aquifer carry an added layer under Sec. 3502: a separate Erosion Plan built to the same FDOT/FDEP manual, erosion control barriers unless a 15-foot natural vegetation buffer is retained, and prompt seeding, sodding, or mulching of any ground cleared before construction begins, reflecting the county's karst, spring-fed hydrology around Crystal River. A related rule, Sec. 6220(J), separately bars grading, stockpiling, or excavating that changes surface drainage to a neighboring property's detriment. Applies only in unincorporated Citrus County; Crystal River and Inverness enforce their own stormwater and erosion codes.