The Southwest Florida Water Management District honored two outstanding Sarasota County projects that focus 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.
Here are the Sarasota County recipients. Sarasota County is in the District’s Manasota Basin, which also includes Manatee County.
Myriam Springuel, with the Science and Environment Council of Sarasota County, was recognized for her role in The Watershed And You: A Direct Connection project. The Council recently produced a DVD to create public awareness about watersheds as integrated living systems, of which we are all an intimate part. This 20-minute DVD educates on the important roles individuals, neighborhoods and communities play to preserve the natural resources valued in Sarasota County. This video is targeted for developers, neighborhood associations, gardeners, business owners and residents.
Angela Maraj serves as the Florida Yards & Neighborhoods Builders/Developers Outreach coordinator in Charlotte, Manatee and Sarasota counties. She was recognized 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 that was home 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.”
In addition, Maraj was part of the coordination team for Sustainable Sarasota, a two-day conference on Green Building in Sarasota in June 2006. She planned and promoted the second day of the program that had more than 100 attendees, including builders, developers, landscape and irrigation professionals, and county and city commissioners, learn how to incorporate Florida-friendly landscaping in new building projects.
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.