The Southwest Florida Water Management District is announcing the recipients of the 2005 Community Education Grant Program. The grants, which are up to $5,000 each, will help fund projects that provide communities the opportunity to learn about water resources.
This year the District awarded 29 grants Districtwide for a total of $107,667.
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 water protection through various activities and educational formats.
This is the ninth year community education grants have been available.
Here is the Citrus County recipient in the Coastal Rivers Basin:
The Save the Homosassa River Alliance will receive $5,000 for the Homosassa River Water Quality Testing project. The project will educate and train citizens to test the water quality of 30 sites along the Homosassa River and Homosassa Springs system. The tests will be coordinated with the District and will
be compared with prior reported tests. Three phases of testing are planned. Testing results will be published in the Citrus County Chronicle and the Citrus edition of the St. Petersburg
Times, reaching approximately 15,000 people.
This project’s funding comes from the District’s Coastal Rivers Basin Board, which includes portions of Pasco, Hernando, and Citrus counties.
The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s 2006 Community Education Grant Program will begin its application process in August of this year if funding is approved by the Basin Boards. The deadline for applications is tentatively scheduled for October. To be added to the mailing list to receive the 2006 application, call the District’s Communications and Community Affairs Department at 800-423-1476 or 352-796-7211, ext. 4757.