The Southwest Florida Water Management District honored four outstanding Manatee County projects that focused on water resources education. A total of 27 projects were recognized during the “Partners in Watershed Education Conference” at the Lake Mirror Complex in Lakeland.
The Manatee County recipients are listed below. Manatee County is in the District’s Manasota Basin, which also includes Sarasota County.
Gail Scout with the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, Flotilla 85 was honored for the “Stop the Drips Campaign.” The project targeted approximately 200 recreational boaters and surveyed their attitudes toward fuel/oil spills. After taking the survey, boaters were given literature and a non-spill, fuel/oil absorbent bib. The boaters learned about the hazards of fuel/oil pollution and that there are options available for stopping small fuel/oil spills from entering our waterways.
Erin Marsh, a teacher at Saint Stephens’ Episcopal School, was honored for the “Wonders of Watersheds” project. This Splash! mini-grant project emphasized knowledge of the local watershed and water conservation. Students studied the water cycle, water chemistry and pollution. They also collected and tested water samples from nearby water bodies. Younger students participated in an Earth Festival.
Margie Stratton, a teacher at Southeast High School, was honored for her role in the “Watershed Habitat Establishment at the North Pond.” High school students studied weather patterns and the quality of an on-campus retention pond. The students then created a water-related activity packet for children and worked with a nearby elementary school to teach concepts of pollution and conservation.
Angela Maraj serves as the Florida Yards & Neighborhoods Builders/Developers Outreach coordinator in Charlotte, Manatee and Sarasota counties. She was honored for her role in an episode of the Bob Vila Home Again national television program. In 2005, producers contacted her to help develop a landscaping segment for a series on the construction of a storm-resistant home. The program featured building a new home to replace a home that was destroyed by Hurricane Charley in Punta Gorda. Vilas original idea was to allot five minutes to the landscaping segment. However, he became so enthusiastic about the Florida-friendly landscaping concepts that he decided to devote an entire half-hour show to landscaping, in which Maraj “starred.”
To select the awardees, District staff reviewed school projects funded through the Splash! mini-grant program and grants applied for by community members, local governments and non-profit groups through the community education grant program. District-sponsored programs that use volunteers to educate others about water conservation were also considered.
Many of the District’s grant projects focus on various aspects of all four of the District’s areas of responsibility water supply, water quality, natural systems protection and flood protection.