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Cockroach Bay is located in Tampa Bay, the District’s highest priority SWIM water body, and is one of the largest, most complex ecosystem restoration projects ever developed for the Tampa Bay estuarine ecosystem. The 1980s was a decade of added responsibility for the District. A number of environmental programs were created by the Legislature during these years and, as a result, staff realigned priorities to accomplish multiple significant undertakings.…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Pinellas-Anclote River Basin Board Wednesday adopted a reduced millage rate of .3600 mill for fiscal year 2009 (FY2009). This millage rate is .0101 lower than the FY2008 millage rate. In June, the Board adopted a millage rate of .3701 but today Basin Board members said declining property values and the economy influenced their decision to lower it. The Pinellas-Anclote River Basin Board area covers Pinellas County and…

Restrictions eased for Manatee, Sarasota, DeSoto and Charlotte countiesEditor's note: Contact Robyn Felix at Robyn.Felix@WaterMatters.org to receive a color map via email.The Southwest Florida Water Management District's Governing Board voted today to ease water restrictions for Manatee, Sarasota, DeSoto and Charlotte counties. The Board voted to lift the Phase III restrictions for the Southern counties in the District due to improvements in public water supply storage as a…

Representatives from the Citrus County Aquatic Services were honored today with a Water Stewardship Award from the Southwest Florida Water Management’s Withlacoochee River Basin Board.The board chose the Citrus County Aquatic Services’ ‘Moccasin Slough Water Conveyance Canal’ project to receive the Water Stewardship Award because the project entails the restoration of a “once natural” water conveyance area that, after several decades, had…

Representatives from the Pinellas County Highway Department were honored today with a Water Stewardship Award from the Southwest Florida Water Management’s Pinellas-Anclote River Basin Board.The board chose the Pinellas County Highway Department’s “McMullen Booth Road at Curlew regional Mitigation Facility” project because the former spoil site is in Pinellas County adjacent to the Lake Tarpon Outfall Canal. Although the project is permitted for…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board approved funding for two reclaimed water studies to maximize the beneficial use of reclaimed water in the region.The first study is for a traditional reclaimed water supply project that would involve constructing a pipeline from one or more of several waste water treatment plants to the Tampa Electric Company (TECO) power plant station in Polk County and Mosaic Fertilizer. Possible sources of the…

The City of Lakeland and the District have taken significant steps toward improving the water quality in Lake Parker. The first phase of a project was recently completed to reduce pollutants discharging into the lake. Prior to the completion of this project, stormwater runoff from this 530−acre drainage basin discharged to the lake without any form of treatment. Due to its dense urban development, this basin is particularly susceptible to common pollutants like…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Coastal Rivers Basin Board Thursday adopted a fiscal year 2009 (FY2009) millage rate of 0.1885 mill, which is the same as the current fiscal year. The Coastal Rivers Basin Board covers portions of Citrus, Hernando and Pasco counties.This millage rate, combined with a reduction in taxable property values as certified by the county property appraisers, will result in an estimated 9.9 percent decrease in ad valorem…

The purpose of the Environmental Advisory Committee (EAC) is to provide input into District programs and activities.This includes regulatory programs, rule revisions, water conservation activities, water resource planning, water resource and supply development projects, research and other water resource management projects that relate to the environment. Subject matter considered by the EAC shall relate to the statutory duties and responsibilities of the District.EAC members…

Ten Hillsborough County projects that will reach up to 64,500 people were awarded Community Education Grants from the Southwest Florida Water Management District. These grants provide up to $5,000 to help fund projects that provide communities an opportunity to learn about water resources.This year the District awarded 38 grants Districtwide for a total of $136,598. This is the 11th year Community Education Grants have been available.The overall goal of the Community…

The word “resiliency” can be described as the ability to recover quickly from disasters and adapt to future conditions. The word also refers to building defenses against the impacts of climate change.  Coastal Florida is vulnerable to impacts from climate change, which may include temperature extremes, intensified storms, increased flooding and sea level rise. West-central Florida has already seen some of these adverse impacts, and projections show the impacts will…

There are more than 200 documented springs throughout the District. However, most individual springs cluster around 16 groups of springs, five of which are classified as first-magnitude groups based on the amount of water they discharge. While recognizing the need to manage all springs, the District places a priority on the five first-magnitude spring groups: Rainbow, Crystal River/Kings Bay, Homosassa, Chassahowitzka, and Weeki Wachee. These spring groups, located in…

About the Watershed Management ProgramThe District takes a watershed approach to managing water and water-related resources within its boundaries. By doing so, all the characteristics of each watershed can be evaluated to reflect the real, interconnected nature of Florida’s water resources. This increases the District’s ability to clearly identify, prioritize and address issues related to the area’s water resources. The Watershed Management Program provides a method to…

The Southwest Florida Management District, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and the Town of Dundee are moving forward on a project that will improve water quality by treating stormwater runoff within the Ridge Lakes watershed.The goal of this multi-year project is to design, permit and construct stormwater treatment systems for 10 lakes located within the Lake Wales Ridge, Polk and Highlands counties.This phase of the project is based on the results of a study…

Highlands County water resources projects receive recognitionThe Southwest Florida Water Management District honored three outstanding Highlands County projects that focused on water resources education. A total of 27 projects were recognized during the “Partners in Watershed Education Conference” at the Lake Mirror Complex in Lakeland.The Highlands County projects are listed below. Part of Highlands County is located within the District’s Peace River…

What is a spring? A spring is a natural opening in the ground where water flows directly from the aquifer to the earth’s surface. The source of this fresh water is from seasonal rainfall that soaks into the ground, which is referred to as groundwater. Springs form when groundwater is under pressure and flows up through an opening called a spring vent, supplying flow to a river or other water body. A spring can occur individually or as a group of many springs. The most…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) invites the public to a virtual workshop Wednesday, Oct. 25, at 5:30 p.m.The purpose of the virtual workshop is to allow for public comment on recommended minimum flows for Horse Creek and Charlie Creek. Horse Creek and Charlie Creek are located in portions of DeSoto, Hardee and Polk counties and are two tributaries of the Peace River.Members of the public may join the meeting via Microsoft Teams through this link…

Four Charlotte County teachers were awarded Splash! school grants through the "Southwest Florida Water Management District(Southwest Florida Water Management District)":/.Mary Margaret Hull, District lead communications coordinator, attributes the effectiveness of the grant program in Charlotte County to the strong partnership with the Charlotte Harbor Environmental Center. Rich Dorken and Jim Thomson from the center serve as the District's liaisons to teachers and helped…

Several members of the District’s Basin Boards and District staff were able to get a closer look at some innovative, water-conserving farming techniques when they visited two area commercial nurseries. The tour, which was organized by the Florida Nurserymen, Growers and Landscape Association (FNGLA), featured the Riverview Flower Farm’s Wimauma location and the Sun City Tree Farm, as well as a tour of the University of Florida’s Gulf Coast Research and Education…

table(webalert). |Who:|Stewart Middle School students and staff.||*What:*|Students will continue a shoreline restoration project that began in 2008 by collecting trash along the Hillsborough River shoreline and planting 300 native plants. It's part of a unique project between the District and Hillsborough County Public Schools at Stewart Middle School, which is located on the Hillsborough River near downtown Tampa. The project involved restoring a section of shoreline by…