The narrow 5-4 vote gives Seminole County a permit to siphon up to 5.5 million gallons from the river daily. The river water will be pumped to a processing plant, converting the St. Johns water into a potable resource.

"If you look at the evidence, there's very little impact [to the environment] whatsoever, let alone a significant impact," Seminole County manager Joe Forte told the board. "It's more of an emotional issue at this point than a factual issue."

Emotions certainly ran high for the hundreds who packed the hours-long Monday meeting in Palatka.

"Seminole County wants to extract two billion gallons a year to water lawns and golf courses," a Welaka homeowner argued. "This is outrageous."

"If you take more of our water away, we're going to have more saltwater," another man shouted during a public hearing. "The lower it goes, the damn ocean is gonna pour it in. And I would just appreciate you saying 'no' or 'hell no!'"

Mayor John Peyton called the decision a slippery slope as more central Florida counties eye the St. Johns River as an alternative water source. The city has spent half a million dollars fighting the Seminole County request in court, but Peyton tells WOKV's Tiffany Griffith that Monday's vote likely ends City Hall's court battle.

But, St. Johns Riverkeeper Neil Armingeon plans to challenge the SJRWM decision.

"This agency failed the public," the Riverkeeper said after the vote. "They failed the St. Johns River."

Seminole County can start pulling water from the river as soon as a year from now. The permit  is good for up to 20 years of daily withdrawals.

"District staff spent more than three years evaluating the potential impacts of this withdrawal and recommended the permit be issued," said SJRWMD governing board chairwoman Susan Hughes. "The District's Governing Board, like many people throughout the region, is committed to protecting the St. Johns River, and it was the board's determination, as it was for district staff and the administrative law judge, that this withdrawal will not cause detrimental impacts to the river."

Several thousand signatures were collected by opponents of the Seminole County plan in a petition drive and the St. Johns River Water Management District was bombarded with about 20,000 emails on the issue.