The Southwest Florida Water Management District's Governing Board will hold its monthly meeting Tuesday, Feb 22, at 9 a.m. at District Headquarters, located at 2379 Broad Street in Brooksville. The meeting is open to the public. Based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) regarding fully vaccinated people, wearing masks and social distancing will be optional at the meeting.

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 “Go to District Calendar.”

The Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) will hold a public meeting Tuesday, March 1, at 5:30 p.m., to share information about the Weeki Wachee Channel Restoration Project. The meeting will take place at the Coast Guard Auxiliary Meeting Hall, located at 4340 Calienta St. in Hernando Beach.

This multiyear project evaluated accumulated sediments in the river and identified where removal of sediments will benefit the river’s ecosystem. The contractor will dredge in the lower river to reestablish historic river depths where accumulated sediments have covered natural habitats. The contractor will start work in February and will be working in the river beginning in March. The work is expected to be complete in October 2022.

The river will remain navigable during the project.

Sedimentation is an environmental problem in the Weeki Wachee River and is identified as one of the priority issues in the District’s Weeki Wachee River Surface Water Improvement and Management (SWIM) Plan. Sedimentation alters the river channel structure and can smother beneficial submerged aquatic vegetation and other habitats. Despite most sources of erosion being addressed in the past, this sediment continues to work its way downstream with widening sand bars and increasingly shallow areas in the lower river as signs of continued sedimentation.

The project is funded by the District and the State of Florida. The District is the lead agency implementing the project and is working with input from Hernando County, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

To learn more about the Weeki Wachee Channel Restoration Project, visit our website at WaterMatters.org/WeekiChannel.   

The Florida Senate has confirmed the appointments of three Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) Governing Board members.

• Jack Bispham represents Manatee County. Bispham was appointed to the Governing Board in Nov. 2019. He was reappointed in May 2021 and his term ends March 1, 2025.
   
• John Hall represents Polk County. Hall was appointed to the Governing Board in May 2021 and his term ends March 1, 2025.
   
• William Hogarth represents Pinellas County. Hogarth was appointed to the Governing Board in May 2021 and his term ends March 1, 2022.

Governing Board members are unpaid, citizen volunteers who are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Florida Senate. The Governing Board sets policy for the District, whose mission is to protect water resources, minimize flood risks, and ensure the public's water needs are met.

The Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) is gathering information to improve identification of flood prone areas in Plant City. Residents living in the Plant City watershed are invited to attend an open house Tuesday, Feb. 15, at 4 p.m. The meeting will take place at Sadye Gibbs Martin Community Center, located at 302 South Maryland Avenue in Plant City.

District representatives will present preliminary data for flood prone areas, explain the basis behind the findings, and gather additional information that may be used to identify areas which may be prone to flooding. After addressing public comments, information will be finalized and presented to the District’s Governing Board for approval to use the data for regulatory purposes. This information is not currently being incorporated into the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Digital Flood Insurance Rate Maps (DFIRMs); however, it may be used in future DFIRM updates.

Residents unable to attend the open house may provide virtual public comment now through April 1 at WaterMatters.org/Floodplain. The website will present preliminary data for flood prone areas and the public will have the opportunity to submit comments.

The information, which identifies areas prone to flooding, can be used by local governments for land use and zoning decisions, to help manage development in and around floodplains and wetlands, to reduce flood risks, to preserve land and water resources, and for emergency planning. It will also provide valuable information to the public for decisions about purchasing and protecting property.

For more information or to find out which watershed you live in, please visit WaterMatters.org/Floodplain or call the District at (352) 796-7211, ext. 4297.

According to the National Weather Service, parts of the Tampa Bay area are expected to have below freezing temperatures Sunday and Monday morning.

This has prompted the Southwest Florida Water Management District to advise residents who live near Plant City and Dover and who have well pumps without automatic cutoff switches to turn off the pumps before temperatures dip.

During a freeze or near-freezing temperatures, water is pumped to protect crops and fish farms, causing aquifer levels to temporarily drop. Once aquifer levels fall below a well’s pump level, the pump can burn out if it is not shut off manually or automatically by a low-pressure shut-off device. An electrical switch located on or near the well can turn off most pumps.

Residents should wait until the temperatures warm up and water levels begin to recover before turning their pumps back on. Residents should consult their local well contractor for questions about restarting their pumps.

To report a dry well, visit WaterMatters.org or contact the District’s Tampa Regulation Department at (813) 985-7481 or 1-800-836-0797.

The Southwest Florida Water Management District's (District) Hampton Tract, including closed area tracts at Green Swamp Wilderness Preserve in Polk County, will be temporarily closed to the public for feral hog hunts Feb. 1-3.

Only permitted hunters will be allowed on the property during these dates. All permits for this hunt have been sold.

The Green Swamp Wilderness Preserve Hampton Tract is located at 14301 Rock Ridge Road in Lakeland.

This activity is one of a series of feral hog hunts being held on District lands to control the damage being caused to the natural habitats.

The District only allows hogs to be controlled through hunts when the damage they cause exceeds unacceptable levels, and damage is occurring more frequently and with increasing severity.

Feral hogs live throughout Florida in various habitats, but prefer moist forests and swamps, as well as pine flatwoods. They are omnivorous and feed by rooting with their broad snouts, which can cause extensive damage to the natural habitats. In fact, they can leave an area looking like a plowed field.

Feral hogs are not native to Florida and are believed to have been introduced by explorer Hernando DeSoto as early as 1539. They can weigh more than 300 pounds and travel in herds of several females and their offspring.

For more information, please call the District’s Land Management section at 1-800-423-1476 or (352) 796-7211, ext. 4466.

Some Areas Show Significant Gains

Scientists with the Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) completed the latest round of seagrass mapping along Florida’s Springs Coast. The results of the aerial imagery collected show 586,511 acres of mapped seagrass habitat along the Springs Coast, up slightly from the previous total of 577,920 acres in 2016. The open water nature of the area and the largely undeveloped and expansive coastal wetlands contribute to the region’s stable seagrass habitats.

This Springs Coast region represents one of the largest and most diverse seagrass ecosystems in the country and the District is committed to monitoring the long-term health of these habitats.

To better understand trends in seagrass habitat, the District further subdivided this region into 16 segments. While the region as a whole saw little change in seagrass acreage, several smaller segments experienced significant gains:

• The Anclote Offshore segment saw the greatest increase (25.7%) from 5,156 acres in 2016 to 6,483 acres in 2020.
• Waccasassa Bay east of Cedar Key also saw significant gains in seagrass (17.1%) from 10,934 acres in 2016 to 12,807 acres in 2020.
• The Crystal Bay Inshore segment saw an increase in seagrass (8.4%) from 25,115 acres in 2016 to 27,223 acres in 2020.

Some segments saw a slight loss in seagrass. Just off the Chassahowitzka River there was a 3.1% decline from 30,086 acres in 2016 to 29,163 acres in 2020.

Along the Springs Coast, seagrasses are often mixed with other organisms like sponges, corals and attached algae. Among the many ecological and economic benefits of these undersea habitats, approximately 70% of the recreationally and commercially important species of fish, crabs, and shrimp in the Gulf of Mexico spend at least a portion of their lives in seagrass meadows. Seagrasses are also a major food source for manatees and sea turtles.

While seagrasses help maintain good water quality, they are also sensitive to increased nutrient pollution and other stressors like red tide and hurricanes. For this reason, the District maps seagrass habitat every four years to “take the pulse” of the Springs Coast estuaries. The results are used to track trends in seagrass and to evaluate ongoing water quality improvement efforts.

Seagrass maps are created by professional photo interpreters using aerial imagery collected specifically for the purpose of mapping seagrasses. Images are collected using state-of-the-art digital cameras mounted on specially outfitted aircraft. Every image must go through a rigorous quality control process before being released to the photo interpreters. Additionally, qualified field crews visit more than a thousand ground truth and accuracy assessment points to ensure the highest quality map product.

The Southwest Florida Water Management District's (District) Hálpata Tastanaki Preserve in Marion County will be temporarily closed to the public for feral hog hunts Jan. 25-27.

Only permitted hunters will be allowed on the property during these dates. All 25 permits for these hunts have been sold.

Hálpata Tastanaki Preserve is located at 15430 SW Highway 484 in Dunnellon.

This activity is one of a series of feral hog hunts being held on District lands to control the damage being caused to the natural habitats.

The District only allows hogs to be controlled through hunts when the damage they cause exceeds unacceptable levels, and damage is occurring more frequently and with increasing severity.

Feral hogs live throughout Florida in various habitats, but prefer moist forests and swamps, as well as pine flatwoods. They are omnivorous and feed by rooting with their broad snouts, which can cause extensive damage to the natural habitats. In fact, they can leave an area looking like a plowed field.

Feral hogs are not native to Florida and are believed to have been introduced by explorer Hernando DeSoto as early as 1539. They can weigh more than 300 pounds and travel in herds of several females and their offspring.

For more information, please call the District’s Land Management section at 1-800-423-1476 or (352) 796-7211, ext. 4467.

Workshop to follow at 10:30 a.m.