WaterMatters Magazine Archive

The District’s response team jumps into action to help the Suwannee River Water Management District with flooding in its area. (Photo courtesy Paul Buchanan) As Tropical Storm Debby churned in the Gulf…

The District recently restructured the Regulation Division to increase the quality of service. Resource Regulation evaluates Environmental Resource, Water Use and Well Construction permit applications and…

School Tackles Water Issues The Tri-County Water School is now open for registration. The school, held Sept. 11–12, tackles critical water issues facing Pinellas, Pasco and Hillsborough counties. The school…

  A group of lawyers, prosecutors and judges from Brazil recently stopped by the District to learn about environmental law. The group of legal experts visited several agencies throughout the state to…

  Boy Scout “D.J.” Ortiz of Troop 203 (right) guides scouts as they place oyster culch bags to help the eroding shorelines of three islands of the Camp Bayou Restoration Project. Those oyster shells…

  With the rainy season upon us, now is the perfect time to build a rain barrel. The water savings from using stored rainwater rather than municipal or well water can be substantial over a period of…

  District staff and City of Tampa officials recently celebrated the opening of the Sulphur Springs Weir and Pumping Station. Engines hummed and water gushed marking the completion of a joint project…

New environmental regulations recently went into law aimed at streamlining the state’s permitting process and giving applicants more options for authorization. Some provisions of the new law include:…

District staff celebrated many accomplishments in 2012 and continued to serve the community by carrying out the core mission. After decades of collaboration and work with…

Splash! Grants Awarded to Area Schools in District This year, 94 Splash! grants were awarded across the District’s 16-county region to educate students on water resources. Splash! grant projects include…

Water resources education is hitting the road. The Crystal Springs Foundation recently unveiled WaterVentures, Florida’s Learning Lab. The traveling lab is a science center housed in a customized 53-foot…

Caver Studies Effects on Springs Beneath your feet exists a part of Florida few ever see but all should value. Deep below the earth’s surface, caverns have formed by water seeping into cracks and slowly…

Community leaders in Sarasota County kick off the construction of the Dearborn Street Stormwater Project. Michael Peck, professional engineer with the District, recently helped community leaders in Sarasota…

From top to bottom: 1) James Thomas loads in records to the new Brooksville storage site. 2) Boxes of records are scanned to pinpoint their location. 3) More than 23,000 boxes will fill the new Brooksville…

Bobby Lue, Utility Services Program Manager For 27 years, Bobby Lue has tackled environmental and water issues for several agencies including 12 years at the District. In that time, Lue has learned the…

Located within the heart of the 16,000-acre Flying Eagle Preserve in Citrus County, is the 170-acre Flying Eagle Nature Center. Built in the 1970s as a Boy Scout campground and formerly known as the…

The District’s Governing Board elected new officers at its September meeting. The changes come after the departure of vice chair Hugh M. Gramling. H. Paul Senft, Jr. remains the chair of the board, but a…

Gov. Rick Scott recently appointed Wendy J. Giesy-Griffin to the District’s Governing Board. Giesy-Griffin of Lithia is a former environmental consultant. She was appointed to succeed Hugh M. Gramling and…

Neil Combee was recently recognized for his years of service on the Governing Board. Combee gave his resignation in May. He left his position to run for a state House seat. Combee was first appointed to the…

District Approves Budget The Southwest Florida Water Management District Governing Board recently adopted its fiscal year 2012–13 (FY2012–13) millage rate and budget. The Governing Board adopted a FY2012–13…

Regionalization and Greater Use of Alternative Water Supplies Will Result Workers install a new two-mile long pipeline in the Citrus Park area. More widespread use of alternative water supplies and a more…

Five counties within the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s region are now under a Modified Phase III water shortage order due to below-normal rainfall this winter. The District’s Governing Board…

Website Enhancement The District recently launched two new WaterMatters.org microsites featuring information on the Alafia River watershed and the Florida Water StarSM program. Alafia River…

  April is Water Conservation Month for a reason. It is the time of year in our state when the demand for water resources is high and the supply is low. Although the spring months are typically the…

Twenty Sumter County Advanced Placement high school students recently visited the District to learn about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) careers. Students learned how to bridge the…