WaterMatters Magazine Archive

Governing Board member Judy Whitehead, far left, and Pasco County commissioners and stakeholders cut the ribbon for the opening of the new connector trail into Jay B. Starkey Wilderness Park in New Port…

District Restructures to Support Focus on Core Mission A new executive director and leadership team is in place to move the District forward in meeting its core mission under the new budget realities.…

District Extends Water Restrictions The Governing Board extended Phase I water shortage restrictions for the District’s entire 16-county area through Feb. 29, 2012, because of a disappointing summer rainy…

Randall S. Maggard Gov. Rick Scott has appointed Randall S. (Randy) Maggard to the District’s Governing Board. Maggard is from Pasco County and is vice president of Sonny’s Discount Appliances, Inc. He was…

FY2012 Budget Is 44.4 Percent Below FY2011 Levels The District’s Governing Board adopted a FY2012 millage rate of 0.3928 mill and a budget of $155.5 million at its September final budget hearing. The…

   James Fine, office chief of the Project Management Office A new office at the District aims to improve the consistency and efficiency of District water resource projects. The Project…

The District’s Governing Board recently approved the first parcel of land for surplus and the assessment process received glowing reviews. Board members approved the surplus…

Governing Board member Todd Pressman recently attended the ribbon cutting ceremony for the City of Oldsmar’s reverse osmosis treatment plant. In 1998, the District provided financial support to the City of…

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The District’s birth was prompted by a hurricane. Its initial mission was to provide flood protection; however, by the end of the decade, the fledgling agency was already maturing to address broad-based water…

As the District stepped into its second decade, the hints of change that began in the late 1960s moved to the forefront. One of the District’s largest flood control systems, the Tampa Bypass Canal and its…

Cockroach Bay is located in Tampa Bay, the District’s highest priority SWIM water body, and is one of the largest, most complex ecosystem restoration projects ever developed for the Tampa Bay estuarine…

The District is in the process of raising the levels of Lake Hancock to meet the minimum flows for the upper Peace River. During the 1990s, the District identified, planned and executed a number of programs…

The C.W. “Bill” Young Regional Reservoir is the result of the historic Partnership Agreement, which sought to reduce groundwater pumping in the regional wellfields by developing alternative water supplies.…

Advanced technology has reached nearly every single aspect of the District in one way or another throughout the organization’s history, most notably in the past two decades. “The technological changes during…

  H. Paul Senft Jr., Governing Board Chair This edition of WaterMatters Magazine celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Southwest Florida Water Management District. Created in 1961…

Shirley Louis, INROADS intern, presents Jim Lewis, District Enterprise Infrastructure manager, the Supervisor of the Year plaque. Jim Lewis, District Enterprise Infrastructure manager, was named Supervisor…

Second-grade students from Learning Gate Community School collect specimens at a pond on the school property as part of their 2011 Splash! school grant project. The Florida Department of Environmental…

Governing Board Treasurer Albert G. Joerger and his family stop at the District booth during the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast Fall Family Festival. More than 1,000 visitors enjoyed old-fashioned…

Projects in local communities, a new water use caution area in Hillsborough County, an organizational restructuring and a new executive leadership team were some of the changes that marked the District’s…

Above left: Bradenton City council members, Manatee County commissioners and other dignitaries join in the official groundbreaking of the Wares Creek Flood Protection Project. Above right: Governing Board…

Governing Board Chair H. Paul Senft, Jr. addresses dignitaries at the dedication of the Integrated Loop System Phase 3A Interconnect Project at the T. Mabry Carlton, Jr. Water Treatment Plant in Venice.…

Plant City High School students clear debris from the District’s Channel G Salinity Barrier. Volunteers recently gathered at a District structure to help prevent trash from traveling to Tampa Bay. National…

Left, The intricate designs of two freshly planted intertidal lagoon systems mimic Mother Nature, incorporating various estuarine habitats. The design includes high-marsh and transitional zones in anticipation…

Staff and dignitaries attended the grand opening ceremony of the Frances Archbold Hufty Learning Center and Adrian Archbold Lodge at Archbold Biological Station in Highlands County. The station is an…