WaterMatters Magazine Archive

The new year kicks off with a new District program aimed at recognizing outstanding stewards of Florida’s water resources. This new program is known as the Water Stewardship Awards. “Florida’s watersheds…

Florida-Friendly Landscaping 101 A watershed education program is giving Pasco County middle school students and teachers the opportunity to learn about Florida’s watersheds, including the Springs Coast…

Conservation Is Always In Season In west-central Florida, water conservation is always in season. That means some conservation measures are in effect year-round, whether it is the rainy season or the dry…

A Meeting of the Minds     This September water managers, state and local government officials, representatives from academia, the business community and other interested people attended…

Caring For Our Communities This fall marks the 9th year of coordinated efforts for the District’s employee committee holiday season benevolent activities. The District supports a variety of charitable…

Award-Winning Restoration A place where people used to illegally dump everything from scrap metal to household waste is the site of an award-winning restoration project. The joint project between SWIM…

Hold Back The Rain     Gene Farley’s days are spent watching and listening for signs of trouble. Farley is the “structures guy,” otherwise known as the Structure Controls Supervisor, at the…

Dollars and Cents     In the development of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2004 budget, the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Governing and Basin Boards took many factors into account. “The…

Funds Available Individuals and groups concerned about water-related issues in their communities can apply for a Southwest Florida Water Management District community education grant. Grant recipients can…

Focusing on Florida's Future This September, water managers, state and local government officials, representatives from academia, the business community and other interested people will come to Tampa to…

District Outreach It flew with the troops fighting in Iraq. Now it serves as a big “thank you” to staff at the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Bartow Service Office for their generosity.…

New Leadership If there’s one certainty, it is this: Thomas G. Dabney is prepared. Soon after being named to the Governing Board in April 2000, Dabney granted a wide-ranging interview to The Sarasota…

New Leadership Look up “energy” in the dictionary and more than likely there’ll be a picture of David Moore. Sightings of the District’s new executive director have been reported in every District…

The District celebrated successful water conservation education grant projects and recognized the volunteers that make them happen at the spring conference, “Water Conservation: Reflect, Connect, Celebrate…

Fresh Faces Two Governing Board members are getting used to their new roles at the District. Gov. Jeb Bush appointed Judy Whitehead and Jerry Rice to the Governing Board in March. Their terms end March 1,…

Passing the Torch     This spring the Governing Board “passed the torch” to a group of new leaders. The April elections brought about a change in each of the four offices. Thomas “Tom” G.…

Longevity Recognized When Ron Vanlerberghe started working at the District, Lyndon B. Johnson was president, Florida was home to just over 6 million people, and the first issue of the alternative magazine “…

Education in Action Mother Earth didn’t change the way she moves water through the cycle, District staff just thought of a better way to teach it. That’s the story behind the new and improved hydrologic…

Education in Action The District was recently honored as the Hillsborough Education Foundation 2002 District Business Partner of the Year. The award was presented to the District at a ceremony for 700…

District Dedication Navigational Lock Operating Hours Daily Hours Oct. 15– Feb. 15 7 a.m.–12 p.m. and 1 p.m. – 6 p.m. Daily Hours Feb. 16–Oct. 14 7 a.m.–12 p.m. and 1 p.m. –8 p.m. “This structure is placed…

Environmental Concern An Oldsmar Boy Scout was recently honored by the Pinellas-Anclote River Basin Board for his work on a project at the Brooker Creek Preserve. Mark Brandon of Troop 64 of Oldsmar…

District Kudos The District was recently recognized nationally for combining function with environmentally friendly building and landscaping practices at its Sarasota Service Office. The National Commercial…

Executive Director Resigns Governing Board Chairman Ronnie Duncan received the call at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 16. After six years at the helm, Sonny Vergara was resigning as executive director, effective…

Excellence in Engineering Florida’s five water management districts were recently honored as national “trendsetters” for irrigation conservation issues. The Irrigation Association collectively recognized…

Hispanic Outreach Nearly 10 percent of the people who live in the District are Hispanic, and for many, Spanish is their first language. To reach that audience with a water conservation message, the District…