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The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board today celebrated two District projects that received an Award of Excellence at the Hillsborough County Planning Commission 26th Annual Community Design Awards. The Community Design Awards recognize projects that contribute to the quality of life in Hillsborough County.Both projects were managed by the Surface Water Improvement and Management (SWIM) Program.Newman Branch Creek Habitat Restoration…

Who:Representatives from the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Alafia River Basin Board, the District’s Surface Water Improvement and Management (SWIM) program, Tampa Electric Company, Protecting the Environment through Ecological Research (PEER,) the Pinellas County Environmental Fund and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)What:Volunteers will participate in planting 6,000 marsh grass and upland plants before a tree planting…

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 know the salinity of brackish water. And that was just for starters. Those were a few of the topics covered when more than 270 high school students and teachers from Citrus, Hernando, Pasco and Sumter counties swarmed the Anclote River Park in…

Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio is planning to proclaim March 10 “Florida-friendly Landscaping Day.”This proclamation will take place in the Mayor’s office on Monday, Feb. 5 at 2:30 p.m. It is being made in conjunction with the Florida Yard Fandango, a Florida-friendly gardening event being held March 10, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.This is the second year homeowners and gardening enthusiasts are invited to “play in the dirt” at the Museum of Science and…

In celebration of Water Conservation Month, the Southwest Florida Water Management District is bringing its water conservation restrooms to the Sharks Tooth Festival. The event is being held April 7-9 near Venice.Community festivals allow the District to spread the word about water conservation to a variety of audiences by bringing the comforts of a private, water-conserving bathroom to a variety of people.“The water conservation restroom trailer is a practical and…

Hotels and motels in both Hillsborough County and the City of Tampa saved 35 million gallons of water during 2004 while participating in the Southwest Florida Water Management District water conservation program known as Water C.H.A.M.P. or Water Conservation Hotel and Motel Program.Based on City of Tampa and Hillsborough County potable water rates, that translates into more than $180,000 in savings per year to participating hoteliers.The Water C.H.A.M.P. is a “linens…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District is launching a new public awareness campaign in the Crystal River/Kings Bay area that will help residents have green lawns, not green water.The multimedia campaign, which was developed to address increasing nitrate levels in Crystal River and Kings Bay, focuses on teaching Citrus and Marion county residents about proper fertilizer use.Excess fertilizer applied to public parks, golf courses and lawns can percolate through the…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) Governing Board recognized Earnie Olsen of Citrus County as one of this year’s springs community partners at its May Governing Board meeting. Olsen is the supervisor of the Marine Science Station in Crystal River and has taught at the center since 2008. Olsen and his staff lead daily field trips, taking Citrus County students by…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District approved funding for an additional phase of the Pinellas County Ultra Low-flow Toilet Rebate Program in response to an unexpected increase in consumer demand.The program promotes water conservation by providing toilet rebates of up to $100 for each high-flow toilet or urinal replaced with a low-flow model. The program targets residential and commercial customers of Pinellas County Utilities and the cities of Clearwater,…

The Heritage Pines environmental committee will receive a $4,989 grant from the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s 2007 Community Education Grant Program.The residents of Heritage Pines, located in Pasco County, were awarded the funds for a series of Florida-friendly lectures and workshops, which will include planting a Florida-friendly demonstration garden. Approximately 2,400 residents live in the Heritage Pines community. Many of the residents are…

The Southwest Florida Management District’s Governing Board approved funding Tuesday for a project that evaluates alternatives for reducing flooding and improving water quality within the Christina Watershed.The Christina Watershed, located near Mulberry in western Polk County, is approximately 6 square miles and is part of the headwaters to the North Prong of the Alafia River. This area has experienced recurrent flooding for the past ten years and is also…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District has contracted with Team Spirit, Inc. to help coordinate the District’s Water Conservation Hotel and Motel Program (Water C.H.A.M.P.) in Citrus and Hernando counties.As part of the program, the District invites hotel and motel owners, operators and management to participate in a “linens and towels reuse program.” The District supplies printed materials for guest rooms and educational materials for employees…

  Cheryl Johnson, a member of the District’s Alafia River Basin Board, accepted an award from the DSI Black Pages on the District’s behalf. The award, which was presented in January, recognized the District for its continuing support of the publication. As a part of its diversity outreach efforts, the District has advertised in the Black Pages for more than 10 years. The DSI Black Pages is affiliated with the Yellow Pages and specifically targets the African…

Who: Representatives from the Southwest Florida Water Management District and the City of InvernessWhat: The city is holding a groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the start of construction on a reclaimed water transmission line. This $2 million project is being funded by the District’s Withlacoochee River Basin Board and the city.When: Monday, Feb. 4, 5 p.m.Where: The Inverness Wastewater Treatment Plant, located at 3900 S. Florida Ave., Inverness.Why: The District and the…

Expansion will protect natural resources from rapid growthThe Southwest Florida Water Management District Governing Board approved a rule amendment on Tuesday that will expand the Northern Tampa Bay Water Use Caution Area (NTBWUCA) into the portions of Pasco and northeastern Hillsborough counties not currently in the WUCA to address increasing water use due to rapid growth and development in the area.In 1989, the Governing Board declared portions of northern…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District is seeking public input about the order in which "minimum flows and levels (MFLs)":http://www.WaterMatters.org/mfl/ for lakes, rivers, streams and aquifers in the District will be determined.A minimum flow or level is the limit at which further water withdrawals will cause significant harm to the water resources or environment. The District Governing Board sets these limits as part of achieving the delicate balance between…

h2. Additional Lines Will Add 300 CustomersMore than 300 residential water customers in the Clearwater Harbor area will have access to reclaimed water when a pipe installation project now under way is complete in 2012.With funding assistance from the "Southwest Florida Water Management District(Southwest Florida Water Management District)":/, the City of Clearwater is adding more than 34,000 feet of reclaimed water pipes to the area. The project will provide capacity for…

Who: Suncoast Earth Force, Southwest Florida Water Management District staff, educators and approximately 600 students from Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas countiesWhat: 8th Annual Youth SummitThe annual summit is sponsored by Suncoast Earth Force, a Tampa Bay-area nonprofit educational organization.The summit brings together hundreds of youth, educators and community partners who have been involved in Earth Force programs during the past year. It is a day of education and…

Gov. Charlie Crist on April 1 reappointed Todd Pressman, and appointed Jeffrey Adams to the "Southwest Florida Water Management District's(Southwest Florida Water Management District)":http://watermatters.org Governing Board."Pressman(Todd Pressman)":http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/about/governingboard/profiles/todd_pressman.html is from Oldsmar and is the owner and president of Pressman & Associates. His new term ends March 1, 2014. Pressman was elected Board chair in…