The Southwest Florida Water Management District honored four outstanding Polk County water resources education projects. A total of 26 projects were recognized Wednesday during the “Partners in Watershed Education Conference” at the Crowne Plaza Tampa East Hotel.
- Johnna Martinez was recognized for her work with the Lakes Education/Action Drive program, which informed Polk County residents about water resource and water quality issues, as well as lake preservation and protection. More than 8,000 residents were involved in special events, cleanups and workshops. The Lakes Education/Action Drive encourages residents to adopt behaviors that foster proper stewardship and protection of their local watershed.
- John Brennaman was recognized for his work with the Polk County Extension’s Polk County Water School, which is an educational program for elected officials and government decision-makers. The program includes workshops and tours that provide information about Polk County’s water resources. The goal is to encourage improved public policy decisions relative to water issues in the county.
- Wendimere Reilly, owner of The Health Chic, Inc., was recognized for her 2008 Community Education Grant project. As part of her project, The Health Chic, Inc., hosted a Haines City Earth Day festival. Approximately 400 people attended the one-day event, which provided hands-on Florida-friendly landscaping education and promoted the District’s “Skip-A-Week” campaign.
- Debra Porter and Karen Horsting, teachers at Southwest Middle School, were recognized for their project, “The Florida Story: Connecting to our Environment.” Through a 2007–2008 Splash! mini- grant, students at Southwest Middle School read books related to water resources and natural systems, performed water-related classroom experiments and took field trips to clean up local lakes. In addition, representatives from Lowry Park Zoo and other local agencies provided in-class presentations.
Portions of Polk County are represented by three District Basin Boards: Alafia River, Hillsborough River and Peace River.
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.