WaterMatters Magazine Archive

At the final budget hearing on Sept. 28, the Governing Board adopted a total fiscal year (FY) 2011 budget of $279.8 million and a millage rate of 0.3770 mill for the Districtwide General Fund. The approved…

From left: Jason DiBattista, left, and Jeff Toth inspect irrigation systems at the District’s headquarters in Brooksville. Center: Kris Miller, a tradesworker in the Tampa service office, checks a microjet.…

As the Invasive Plant Threatens to Gain a Foothold in the Green Swamp, Agencies Cooperate to Fight It Photo courtesy USDI National Park Service With threats from new invasive plants and animal species…

Left to right: A young visitor enjoys his new binoculars. Sally Unser, senior communications coordinator, applies a tattoo at the youth education booth. Inverness Mayor Ron Plaisted, left, presents the “…

An expanse of peaceful campgrounds, wooded trails and cypress and hardwoods rise to pine flatwoods nestled in Pasco County’s Land O’ Lakes. The District’s Cypress Creek Preserve is an oasis of natural…

Northeast of the recently-restored Lake Panasoffkee, a wetland forest of freshwater marshes rises to the pine flatwoods and scrub oaks of upland sandhills to form the vast floodplain forest of the District’s…

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Ekker Preserve, top, before restoration. At bottom, the restoration project after completion of the final grading. A tropical fish nursery that was dominated by nonnative plants and mosquitoes was recently…

Clay Black, District senior professional engineer, prepares students for the estuary test. For this high school field trip, students were asked to define anoxic, cite the life cycle of an oyster and…

Will VanGelder, District senior land management specialist, top, leads a group through the Oak Ridge Equestrian Area. More than 50 residents turned out for a series of guided hikes on District properties…

Clockwise from top: Water Quality Monitoring Program employees, George DeGroot and David Sua receive their suggestion awards from their managers. This year marks the 10-year anniversary of the District’s…

Left to right: Pinky Mathew retrieves samples from storage. Jackie Robbins prepares samples for testing for alkalinity concentrations. Matt Jablonski loads the auto sampler for the Inductively Coupled Plasma…

Shinn Ditch Restoration Project Wins National Award The North American Lake Management Society presented its 2010 Technical Merit Award to the District for work on the Shinn Ditch restoration project in the…

Overwatering in Winter Can Encourage Pests and Disease The Southwest Florida Water Management District is encouraging residents who irrigate their lawns to “Skip a Week” of watering during the cooler months…

After decades of being impacted by trash and debris, Clam Bayou’s water quality and wildlife habitats will soon be restored. The largest and final phase of the Clam Bayou Habitat Restoration and Stormwater…

Several hundred Pasco County residents joined the District at its first “Get Outside!” Day community event at Starkey Wilderness Preserve’s Serenova Tract. The event was an opportunity for the District to…

      Left: Margit Crowell, District senior hydrologist, uses GIS technology to locate residents’ property in relation to the dam flood inundation area. Right: Lesley Touchton,…

Nearly 400 board members and property managers of community, condominium and homeowners associations attended recent workshops to learn more about a new water conservation law signed by Gov. Charlie Crist…

Ron Oakley, his wife, Tamara, and their daughters Ashley and Hannah Mae. For Ronald Eugene Oakley, “Your word is who you are. Be honest, truthful and treat people right.” Ron believes in making meaningful…

From left: Frederick J. Buckman, Pasco County Parks and Recreation director; Jay B. Starkey, Jr.; Allen Altman, Pasco County School Board chair; Todd Pressman, District Governing Board member; and Lou…

Ted Gates takes a sixth-grade school group on a tour of Gator Sink. Ted Gates, District professional geologist, recently led Polk County’s Southwest Middle School sixth-grade teachers and students on a…

Left to right, Sumter County Commissioners Garry Breeden, Dick Hoffman, Doug Gilpin, Don Burgess and Randy Mask celebrate the April 27 reopening of the renovated Evan A. “Billy” Merritt & David C. Hanson…

The Governing Board voted June 29 to let water shortage restrictions expire on June 30. The Governing Board voted to lift the restrictions in response to significant improvements in aquifer and river levels…

Left: Range Master Bill Rappleyea, right, and Teagan Harris demonstrate shooting technique. Right: Tyler Smith, left, and Austin Vice retrieve their arrows after a contest. Thanks to some help from the…

Just off busy US 19 in Hernando County’s Spring Hill is a quiet oasis of bird-watching trails and teal lakes, waiting for naturalists with binoculars and fishermen with hand-launched boats to discover its…