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The Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) is seeking public input to determine the priority of minimum flows and levels (MFLs) for lakes, wetlands, rivers, streams and aquifers in the District. Legislation requires the District to review and, if necessary, revise this schedule each year. The District will hold a public meeting Aug. 25 at 5:30 p.m. at the Tampa Service Office, located at 7601 U.S. Highway 301 North. Members of the public can also join the… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District is announcing the recipients of the 2005 Community Education Grant Program. The grants, which are up to $5,000 each, will help fund projects that provide communities the opportunity to learn about water resources.This year the District awarded 29 grants Districtwide for a total of $107,667.The overall goal of the Community Education Grant Program is to actively engage adults in water-related issues pertaining to conservation,… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) will close all campgrounds throughout its 16-county region to help reduce the spread of the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19. Beginning Wednesday, March 18, at 1 p.m., all District campgrounds and campsites will be closed for 30 days. Recreational day use activities will still be allowed at this time. The health of our staff and stakeholders is our main priority. Call 1-800-423-1476 or visit … Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s (District) Sarasota Service Office (SSO) will relocate to a new facility effective Monday, March 9. To facilitate this move, the SSO will be temporarily closed to the public Friday, March 6. Normal office hours will resume Monday, March 9 at the new location. The address of the new SSO is 78 Sarasota Center Blvd. in Sarasota. All other contact information including email and phone numbers will remain the same.… Read more

Monthly Governing Board meeting to followThe Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board will hold a joint workshop with Tampa Bay Water on Monday, Jan. 26 at the Brooker Creek Preserve Environmental Education Center, located at 3940 Keystone Road in Tarpon Springs.The workshop will begin at 9 a.m. The Governing Board’s monthly meeting will follow at 12:30 p.m.The Governing Board typically meets on the last Tuesday of the month. Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District Governing Board voted Tuesday to elect officers for the 2021-2022 term. Kelly Rice was re-elected chair of the Governing Board. Rice represents Citrus, Lake, Levy and Sumter counties and is a small-business owner involved in real estate, agriculture and health care. Rice was appointed to the Governing Board in September 2015 and reappointed in September 2019. Joel Schleicher was re-elected vice chair of the Governing… Read more

Members of Gulfport’s Kayak Nature Adventures Paddle Club loaded their boats and headed to Citrus County for a trek into the Chassahowitzka Wildlife Management Area. Their quarry: cans and bottles, bags and cups — anything floating or washed up onshore. Kurt Zuelsdorf led the group of volunteers on its mission to clean up hard-to-reach areas along the Weeki Wachee River, with the permission of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). “We were… Read more

  Teams of students tackle questions at the recent 2012 Nature Coast Envirothon at Dade Battlefield Historic State Park. They examined soil, measured trees and got a close look at a snake.   The hands-on tasks were part of the 2012 Nature Coast Envirothon at Dade Battlefield Historic State Park in Bushnell where 260 high school students competed. The competition is a problem-solving, natural resources education program… Read more

 Brandt Henningsen, District chief environmental scientist, center, and Dr. Kate Spencer, right, with her students from the University of London. Each winter for the past eight years, Dr. Kate Spencer, a University of London professor, has brought a group of her students to the Tampa Bay area to tour District coastal ecosystem restoration projects and the TECO Manatee Viewing Center. Spencer has been bringing student groups to Florida since 2000, and she… Read more

The Northern Tampa Bay Water Use Caution Area (NTB WUCA) includes all of Pinellas and Pasco counties, and the majority of Hillsborough County. Project Description The Northern Tampa Bay Water Use Caution Area (NTB WUCA) was initially established in 1989 and expanded in 2007 to protect water resources from adverse impacts from groundwater withdrawals and from rapid growth and development pressures in the region. The majority of groundwater use in the NTB WUCA is… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board will hold its monthly meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 16 at the District’s headquarters, located at 2379 Broad Street in Brooksville.The meeting will begin at 9 a.m.The Governing Board will discuss merging the Hillsborough River and the Northwest Hillsborough Basin Boards at the meeting.The Governing Board typically meets on the last Tuesday of the month. This month the meeting is being held two weeks… Read more

The "Southwest Florida Water Management District(Southwest Florida Water Management District)":/ is gathering information to improve identification of flooding risks for six Marion County watersheds.This information is being developed as part of the *Blichton*, *Martel*, *SR 200* and *Cotton Plant 1, 2 and 3* watershed management plans. The plans were cooperatively funded by the District and Marion County.The District is holding an open house in Marion County to present… Read more

District scientists have completed a second year of setting up wetland monitoring sites as part of a regional monitoring program. The project is part of the Central Florida Water Initiative (CFWI), a water planning effort among government agencies, water utilities, environmental groups, business organizations, agricultural communities and other stakeholders in a five-county… Read more

table(webalert). |Who:|Students and staff from South Sumter High School, Wildwood Middle High School and field experts from the "Southwest Florida Water Management District(Southwest Florida Water Management District)":/ .||*What:*|Sumter County School District personnel and District field experts will engage 45 ninth-grade students in activities that integrate the use of technology tools with the collection and recording of data about the site. The highlights include… Read more

The "Southwest Florida Water Management District(Southwest Florida Water Management District)":/ is inviting the public to comment on proposed minimum levels for Crystal Lake and North Lake Wales, both located within the city of Lake Wales, at a public workshop on Thursday, Oct. 14. The workshop will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Lake Wales City Commission Chambers, 201 W. Central Ave., Lake Wales.The state Legislature requires the District to set "minimum flows and levels… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District's (District) Governing Board voted today to increase water restrictions throughout the region. The modified Phase III water shortage order affects counties throughout the District's boundaries including Charlotte, Citrus, DeSoto, Hardee, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Lake, Levy, Manatee, Marion, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota and Sumter.District hydrologists report a rainfall deficit of 11-inches since the start of the… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board will hold its monthly meeting Tuesday, May 21 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… Read more

District Accepting Applications for Community Education Grants Community members who want to make a positive impact on the water resources in their area may apply online for a District Community Education Grant. Funded by the District’s Basin Boards, the program is intended to motivate communities to get involved in watershed protection through various educational activities. These grants offer up to $5,000 to help fund projects that provide… Read more

Ted Gates takes a sixth-grade school group on a tour of Gator Sink. Ted Gates, District professional geologist, recently led Polk County’s Southwest Middle School sixth-grade teachers and students on a field trip to observe a sinkhole firsthand at Gator Sink. Gates was given the opportunity to work with the school after joining the District’s Youth Education Team. Youth Education staff formed the Youth Education Team to provide training and instruction for… Read more

Tampa Bay Water Permit Renewed for Additional 10 Years The Governing Board has renewed Tampa Bay Water’s 90-million-gallon-per-day northern Tampa Bay consolidated water use permit for 10 years while requiring the water supplier to continue extensive environmental monitoring. The consolidated permit renewal includes extensive environmental controls, monitoring and reporting. Some of the key components of the permit include:

• Requirements for when the…

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