Seven Hillsborough County projects that will reach up to 35,275 people were awarded Community Education Grants from the Southwest Florida Water Management District. These grants provide up to $5,000 to help fund projects that provide communities an opportunity to learn about water resources.
This year the District awarded 32 grants Districtwide. This is the 12th year Community Education Grants have been available.
The overall goal of the Community Education Grant program is to actively engage adults in water-related issues pertaining to conservation, protection and preservation. Funded by the District’s Basin Boards, the program is intended to motivate communities to get involved in watershed protection through various activities and educational formats.
The Hillsborough County recipients are grouped according to funding by basin. Funding for the following project is provided by the District’s Alafia River Basin Board. TheAlafia River Basin includes the southern half of Hillsborough County and the southwestern portion of Polk County.
TheCamp Bayou Outdoor Learning Center will receive $5,000 for a Citizen Science Symposium, which will feature speakers from organizations that promote citizen science projects through hands-on activities and demonstrations. The goal of this symposium is to show participants the relationship between monitoring and protecting natural resources, understanding the scientific importance of monitoring projects and enlisting residents to take part in monitoring projects. Approximately 500 people will be reached by this symposium.
Funding for the following two projects is provided by the District’sHillsborough River Basin Board. The Hillsborough River Basin includes portions of Hillsborough, Pasco and Polk counties.
TheBoy Scouts of America Troop #47 will receive $3,125 for their troop’s River Cleanup IV. The troop, which meets at Lowry Park Zoo, will conduct a river cleanup north of the Lowry Park Zoo boat ramp along the Hillsborough River and its banks. They will also encourage neighborhood volunteers to take part in a cleanup of the Lowry Park area. As part of the project, the troop will also distribute water education/conservation kits to riverfront homeowners and create a documentary video showing what is pulled from the river. The project goals include increasing awareness of the types of trash thrown into waterways; demonstrating that anyone can make a difference to improve water quality; and teaching scouts that everyone needs to lend a hand to improve water quality. The project’s success will be measured by the amount of trash collected, the number of scouts and volunteers who participate in the cleanup, and surveys taken after viewing the video. The project is expected to reach 1,000 people.
SEF-FLOW will receive $1,700 for a Seffner Ambassador Training program. The group will train “ambassadors” to inform Seffner-area residents about water quality, watersheds, water conservation, natural systems and flood protection. The ambassadors will present this information to their neighbors as well as small neighborhood groups. This project is based on the community-based social marketing concept. The project is expected to reach approximately 150 people.
Funding for the following four projects is provided by the District’sAlafia River Basin Board, the Hillsborough River Basin Board and the Northwest Hillsborough Basin Board, which recently merged with the Hillsborough River Basin Board.
TheHillsborough County Department of Children’s Services will receive $3,000 for the “Building Learning Families — Learning About Nature and Aquatic Life Together” educational program, which will provide at-risk children, between the ages of 5 and 17, and their families with hands-on learning opportunities about water and its role in sustaining life. The weekly program will run four to six months. The children and at least one guardian will participate in weekly reading and multimedia activities to learn about nature and aquatic life. The program will culminate with a trip to The Florida Aquarium. This program will reach approximately 75 people.
Tampa Bay Watch will receive $5,000 for the Bayshore Boulevard Seawall
Oyster Dome project, which is in its fourth phase. This project will install marine-friendly, hollow concrete oyster domes along approximately 1,156 feet of seawall to create fisheries habitat and filter stormwater runoff entering Tampa Bay from the adjacent stormwater outflows. The oysters will help improve water quality because they are filter feeders. Community volunteers will install the domes and develop signage explaining stormwater runoff and the goal of the project. Tampa Bay Watch will monitor the domes every six months for two years. The results will be published and distributed to program participants, permitting agencies, program sponsors and environmental organizations. The project is expected to reach approximately 30,000 people within the first four months.
TheUniversity of Florida will receive $4,586 for a workshop that will promote the use of recycled and reclaimed water in the horticulture industry. The workshop will discuss onsite recycling and treatment of irrigation water, as well as the District’s Facilitating Agricultural Resource Management Systems (FARMS) program. Participants will learn about technologies to treat and manage recycled and reclaimed water and incentives to recycle water. They will develop a plan for their own water treatment and delivery systems. The workshop will also be taped so it can be viewed online. The goal of this project is to encourage and enable growers to recycle irrigation water, which will reduce demand for fresh water and offset groundwater use. This project will be evaluated by the number of web visitors viewing online videos and the number of survey respondents interested in initiating on-site water recycling. This project is expected to reach approximately 550 people.
TheSustany Foundation will receive $4,998 for the River and Civic Connectedness series of educational events being held in conjunction with the 2009 Tampa Bay Green ECO-Lution Innovation Expo. The Sustany Foundation, in partnership with The Urban Charrette, will participate in and support the three-week event. Expo attendees will participate in information sharing seminars and demonstrations about the Hillsborough River watershed and the relationships between urbanization and its effects on pollution, flood protection, natural systems and water quality. This project is expected to reach approximately 3,000 people.
The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s 2010 Community Education Grant program will begin its application process in June 2009. For more information, please call the District’s Communications Department at 800-423-1476 or 352-796-7211, ext. 4757.