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The Southwest Florida Water Management District honored four outstanding Pinellas County water resources education projects. A total of 26 projects were recognized Wednesday during the “Partners in Watershed Education Conference” at the Crowne Plaza Tampa East Hotel.

• Kurt Zuelsdorf, Kayak Nature Adventures owner, was recognized for his “Bringing Back the Bay” community education grant project. Through a 2007 Community Education Grant, Kayak…

Four Marion County teachers are among the record number of educators who applied for and received Splash! mini-grants through the Southwest Florida Water Management District.This year the District awarded Splash! mini-grants to 209 educators totaling more than $413,000. That’s 72 more grant recipients than last year.Mary Margaret Hull, lead communications coordinator, attributes the increase in awardees to an increase in promotion among the District’s school…

Southwest Florida Water Management District employees recently removed 15 tons of tires and 68 tons of other garbage and debris from a sinkhole near Crews Lake in Pasco County.The removal efforts are part of the District’s Springs Cleanup Initiative to remove solid waste from sinkholes and other karst features within the Springs Coast Basin, which includes Citrus, Hernando, Pasco and Marion counties. The project is in its second year and has been approved for a third year.…

  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 through legislative action to serve as the local sponsor for a series of federal flood control projects, the District’s responsibilities have grown dramatically over time. Recognizing that our water resources — our coasts, rivers,…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District "Governing Board(Governing Board)":http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/about/governingboard today proclaimed April as Water Conservation Month. Each year the "District(Southwest Florida Water Management District)":http://watermatters.org designates April as Water Conservation Month because April is traditionally one of the driest months of the year and typically marks the peak demand season for public water suppliers. Many residents…

Left: Rep. Richard Glorioso, R-Plant City; Robert Brown, Plant City Commissioner; Heidi McCree, Governing Board member; Hugh Gramling, Hillsborough River Basin Board member; Fred Johnson, former Hillsborough River Basin Board member; and Devon Higginbotham, Northwest Hillsborough Basin Board member, visited the McIntosh Park site. The District’s new Governing Board chair knew early in life that his future lay in the citrus industry. Born in Avon Park and…

  The drowning of thousands of chickens at several Masaryktown chicken farms was one of the catalysts for the creation of the District. From devastating flooding caused by hurricanes to severe droughts to an unprecedented freeze, major weather events have played an important role in shaping the District’s policies and procedures during the last 50 years…

Modified Phase I Water Shortage Order remains in effect DistrictwideThe Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) Governing Board voted today to extend one-day-per-week watering restrictions for Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties until July 1. This extension mirrors the existing water shortage order currently in effect for Citrus, DeSoto, Hardee, Hernando, Manatee, Polk, Sarasota and Sumter counties; portions of Charlotte, Highlands and Lake…

Drilling more than half a mile below ground to find new sources of water in the Lower Florida aquifer (LFA). Finding new ways to reuse reclaimed water. Combining stormwater and reclaimed water to build a sustainable supply. These are some of the innovative projects the Central Florida Water Initiative is developing to meet the growing water needs of the five-county Central…

Water Stewardship of the Year Award Winner And the nominees for water stewardship are…” While the District’s Water Stewardship Awards program may not be as big as the Oscars, the program is like the Academy Awards because it recognizes excellence. In this case, excellence is in the form of outstanding stewardship of Florida’s water resources. The District’s Governing Board chose Virginia Frissell as the Water Stewardship of the Year Award winner for her project “…

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 developed the Hispanic Outreach Program. The idea behind the campaign began with the Governing Board’s Diversity Committee, said project manager John Walkinshaw. Spanish-speaking District employees also showed an interest in promoting the outreach. Alberto…

Defining Moment In an effort to make conservation more “user-friendly,” the Governing Board has adopted the term “Florida-friendly” to use in the District’s landscape management outreach and education projects. Florida-friendly will replace the terms “Xeriscape™” and “water-wise.” Why the change? Two reasons: concept and consistency. While Xeriscape landscapes are defined as landscaping that conserves water and protects the environment, some people still…

Known for being a role model and a leader at the District, Roberta Starks has now received recognition from Hillsborough Community College (HCC). Starks was recognized at the college’s alumni award ceremony in December. The event, which was the first of its kind at HCC, honored 40 alumni in celebration of the college’s 40th anniversary. “The task for selecting only 40 remarkable alumni was a difficult one for our committee,” said Gwendolyn Stephenson, Ph.D., HCC…

Left: Mary Margaret Hull, District lead youth education coordinator, simulates the sounds of a thunderstorm during a “Rain Game” exercise with Countryside Montessori Elementary School students. Right: Countryside Montessori Elementary School students learn about the hydrologic cycle. District staff educated more than 1,000 students about water resources, conservation and water management careers at this year’s Great American Teach-In. The Great American Teach-…

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 Kavouras, deputy executive director for District Outreach, Planning, Board Services & Ombudsman, mark the opening of the Starkey Environmental Education Center exhibits with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Representatives from the Pasco County School Board, Pasco…

Five counties within the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s region are now under a Modified Phase III water shortage order due to below-normal rainfall this winter. The District’s Governing Board voted last month to declare the Phase III order for northern counties in the District’s region, which are: Citrus, Hernando, Lake, Levy, and Sumter as well as the City of Dunnellon and The Villages in Marion County. A Modified Phase I alert remains in effect for the…

Efforts to restore Lake Panasoffkee recently took a major step forward. The dredging of Step 2 of the Lake Panasoffkee Restoration Council’s four-step, multi-million dollar restoration plan began July 7. The Lake Panasoffkee restoration project involves dredging approximately 8.4 million cubic yards of sediment from the lake, which will improve fish habitat, restore the historic lake shoreline and improve navigation. The project will also restore approximately 920…

The District’s Governing Board recently voted to let water shortage restrictions expire due to significant improvements in the aquifer and river levels as a result of this summer’s above-average rainfall. Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties had been subject to District-declared once-per-week lawn watering restrictions and other stringent requirements. Thirteen other counties were under a drought advisory, which required water utilities to do extra enforcement…

Who: Lake Panasoffkee Restoration Council members, Southwest Florida Water Management District Governing Board members and staffWhat: The Council and the District will mark the completion of the Lake Panasoffkee Restoration project.When: Friday, May 29, 2009 at 10 a.m.Where: Coleman LandingWhy: The $28.3 million project was completed in November 2008. The 10-year project was designed to restore Lake Panasoffkee’s historic fish bedding areas, restore the historic lake…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District is going for the “gold” when it launches its Florida Water Star Gold (FWSG) certification program March 25. The premier event will be at 10 a.m. at Glencairn Cottages, a new development in downtown Dunedin.FWSG is a voluntary certification program for builders. It encourages water efficiency in household appliances, plumbing fixtures, irrigation systems and landscapes, as well as water quality benefits from best…