The Southwest Florida Water Management District will hold a Final Evaluation Committee Meeting on Tuesday, October 27, at 2:00 p.m. (local time) to evaluate responses to RFP 26-4972 Real-Time Flood Forecasting (RTFF) Software Solution.
The Southwest Florida Water Management District will hold a Preliminary Evaluation Committee Meeting on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. (local time) to evaluate responses to RFP 26-4972 Real-Time Flood Forecasting (RTFF) Software Solution. The committee members will discuss their review of the responses and may select a firm to award, select firms to be shortlisted for further evaluation, or reject all responses.
The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board will hold its monthly meeting Tuesday, Aug. 25 at 9 a.m. at District Headquarters, located at 2379 Broad Street in Brooksville.
To view the Governing Board meeting online, click on the live video stream link. The video stream link becomes active and the live video feed begins approximately 15 minutes before the scheduled meeting time.
Public comment will be taken only at the meeting location. Public input for issues not listed on the published agenda will be heard shortly after the meeting begins.
The meeting agenda and materials are posted one week before the meeting and can be found online at WaterMatters.org by clicking on the “Meeting & Events Calendar.”
The Southwest Florida Water Management District is holding an Environmental Resource Permitting (ERP) Advisory Group meeting. The meeting will be held in person and you can also attend virtually via Microsoft Teams.
The Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) is seeking public input to determine the priority of minimum flows and levels (MFLs) establishment for lakes, wetlands, rivers, streams and aquifers in the District as well as the establishment of water reservations. Legislation requires the District to review and, if necessary, revise this schedule each year.
The District will hold a virtual public workshop at noon on Thursday, Aug. 27. Members of the public can join the meeting via Microsoft Teams. To join the meeting, please click on this link to register https://bit.ly/3SqvGmr. Use of the Chrome browser is recommended for best compatibility with Teams.
To join the meeting by telephone only, dial (786) 749-6127 and when prompted enter the conference ID: 562 912 452#.
A minimum flow or level is the limit at which further water withdrawals will cause significant harm to the water resources or environment. A water reservation defines a quantity of water set aside from the water use permitting process for the protection of fish and wildlife or public health and safety. The District’s Governing Board establishes MFLs and reservations as part of achieving the balance between meeting water needs and sustaining Florida’s natural systems.
The adopted minimum flows and levels priority list and schedule for 2025 is available on the District’s website here. The draft 2026 list will be published on the site following the Governing Board’s Aug. 25 meeting and will be considered for approval at the Board’s October meeting.
Written comments on the draft priority list and schedule may be submitted to Gabe Herrick, Chief Environmental Scientist, at gabe.herrick@watermatters.org or to 2379 Broad Street, Brooksville, FL. 34604, no later than Sept. 7.
Repaired Boat Navigation Lock Now Open to the Public
The Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) has completed the Wysong-Coogler structure improvement project in Sumter County.
The extended dry conditions along the Withlacoochee River created an opportunity to perform the improvements to the structure, including replacement of the structure’s air bladders, installation of larger air flow pipes, and several other enhancements to streamline future maintenance.
These improvements will allow the structure to operate more efficiently, reduce required staff time to operate, and restore function to the boat navigation lock, which has not been operational for several years. In addition, the self-service boat lock now functions much faster due to these improvements.
The Wysong-Coogler structure is located on the Withlacoochee River, downstream of Lake Panasoffkee, between Citrus and Sumter counties. Under normal conditions, the gates at Wysong are kept raised to help store water upstream, while still allowing river flows to pass downstream.
Although the project is complete, water levels remain very low along the Withlacoochee River and in area lakes due to extended drought conditions resulting in a 15-inch regional rainfall deficit. A surplus of rainfall is still needed over a long period of time to bring water levels and flows back up to normal conditions.
The Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) will temporarily close the Moccasin Slough Bridge at the Flying Eagle Preserve to conduct bridge deck maintenance. This maintenance activity will result in trail and campground closures.
The bridge is located on the property at 11080 East Moccasin Slough Road in Inverness. The Moccasin Slough airboat slide will not be impacted by the bridge maintenance, but could be impacted by low water levels.
Maintenance activities are expected to begin Aug. 3, and are scheduled to be completed by early September.
For more information, please call the Operations Section at the District’s Brooksville Headquarters at 1-800-423-1476 or (352) 796-7211 or email Recreation@WaterMatters.org.
