Issue papers
- Cooperative Funding
- Comprehensive Watershed Management
- Exotic Species Management
- Flood Protection
- Funding Water Resources Protection
- Minimum Flows and Levels
- Mitigation
- Partnership Agreement
- Permitting
- Protecting Lands and Providing Public Uses
- Responsibilities
- Sinkholes
- Springs — A Unique Resource
- A Sustainable Water Supply
The Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) is the agency responsible for managing and protecting your water resources. Its job is to ensure adequate water supplies to meet the needs of current and future users while protecting water and related natural resources.
The quality of life in Florida is inseparably linked to water resources. Most of Florida’s growth has occurred in coastal areas, where fresh water is least abundant and natural systems, such as estuaries and wetlands, are most vulnerable. As a result, today’s water management involves balancing conflicting demands on the resource to provide adequate water supplies for human needs, appropriate flood protection, and protection of the resource.
The Florida Legislature set the stage for the creation of our state’s water management districts in 1949 when it created the Central and Southern Florida Flood Control District (now known as the South Florida Water Management District). The SWFWMD was established in 1961 by a special act of the Legislature, primarily as a flood control agency following Hurricane Donna in 1960. The Water Resources Act of 1972 preserved the two existing districts and provided that the entire state would be protected by water management districts established along hydrologic boundaries. SWFWMD is one of five regional water management districts in Florida that work in cooperation with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to meet water management challenges and address unique water resource issues in our particular region of Florida.
Primary areas of responsibility are described below.
Water Supply
Ensuring adequate water supplies for humans and for the environment is central to the District’s mission. A variety of effective water supply programs, including a water use permitting program, regulate the amount of water taken from surface and groundwater sources. The District’s regulatory efforts are balanced with incentives such as the New Water Sources Initiative and other Cooperative Funding projects that encourage the development and use of reclaimed water, desalination, aquifer storage and recovery, and other non–traditional sources. The Florida Forever program will provide additional funding incentives for water resource development.
Flood Protection
For the first decade of its existence, flood protection was the District’s primary responsibility. The simplest, most effective approach to flood protection is prevention. For example, flood damage is prevented when the District ensures that development takes place away from floodplains, and that it does not alter natural patterns of water movement and storage. Additionally, the District operates 73 water management structures. Some of them are operated in times of flood to divert water away from people and development. Others are used in times of low rainfall to conserve and maintain lake levels. Still others serve as barriers to keep salt water from entering freshwater systems.
Water Quality
The District is actively involved in maintaining and improving the quality of the waters within its jurisdiction. Regulatory programs such as well construction and water use permitting prevent contamination and overuse of groundwater supplies. A Quality Water Improvement Program helps plug abandoned wells to keep brackish water from contaminating surface waters or potable aquifers. The Surface Water Improvement and Management or SWIM program helps communities improve the quality of priority surface water bodies and restore plant and animal habitats.
Natural Systems
To protect the public’s water resource, the District acquires land to manage and protect natural systems. All public lands managed by the District have at least one thing in common: they assure effective stewardship of water resources. For instance, a particular property may provide flood protection, preserve water quality, or even preserve a future water supply. As an added benefit, most of the lands acquired for these purposes also are available for recreational activities such as hunting, camping, fishing, biking and hiking. The District now manages approximately 300,000 acres of protected public land.
Resource Management Today and In the Future
The District serves more than 3.98 million people in a 10,000–square–mile area that covers all or part of these 16 counties: Charlotte, Citrus, DeSoto, Hardee, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Lake, Levy, Manatee, Marion, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota and Sumter.
In the years since it was created by the Legislature, the District has seen dramatic changes: rapidly increasing population and development; greater environmental management responsibilities; and recognition of water resource limitations. These changes have created substantial challenges to our goal of balancing the need for water with environmental protection. The District remains steadfastly committed to managing water resources for today and for the future.
August 2001
