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The Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) Governing Board voted today to rescind the Modified Phase I Water Shortage Order enacted in November 2023. This action eliminates one-day-per-week water restrictions for Hillsborough and Pinellas counties; however Pasco County and the City of Tampa will remain on one-day-per-week watering by local ordinance.All 16 counties throughout the District’s boundaries are now on Year-Round Water Conservation Measures, with…

Setting prescribed fires in controlled settings can reduce the risk of wildfires burning out of control, as many Floridians witnessed during the state’s wildfire emergency last year. That’s why the…

Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) officials are monitoring Hurricane Michael and have raised the activation level of the District’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to Level 2. The EOC provides direction regarding District activities before, during, and after an emergency weather event. The District is continuing to monitor potential impacts from the storm that could occur throughout its 16-county region. Since we are at the end of the four-…

Pirate Parrot, Pittsburg Pirates mascot, gives Governing Board Chairman Todd Pressman the ball after Pressman threw out the first pitch. The District teamed up with the Pittsburgh Pirates to promote water conservation, dubbing the March 8 spring training game against the New York Yankees as Water Matters Day. The District gave the first 2,000 fans a free baseball-shaped shower timer, and Governing Board Chairman Todd Pressman threw out the first pitch.…

Volunteers and District staff are pulling together to help keep public lands clean from the uplands to the coastline. They were scheduled to take part in the 17th annual National Public Lands Day and the 25th annual International Coastal Cleanup Day. Both days were recognized on Sept. 25 this year, and volunteers across the country and around the world worked to clean up public lands and coastal waterways. The District owns and manages approximately 436,000 acres of…

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…

From an early age, Senior Environmental Scientist Philip Rhinesmith knew he wanted to work in natural resources.  Through an independent study course at Saint Leo University, Philip worked in the District’s Environmental section (now Springs & Environmental Flows). A year later, Philip returned to the District as a co-op student and moved to a full-time chemist position in 1987.  One of Philip’s first projects was collecting wetland and vegetation…

Emergency Operations Center at Level 2 Activation Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) officials are monitoring Hurricane Irma and have raised the activation level of the District's Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to Level 2. The EOC provides direction regarding District activities during an emergency weather event. The District is continuing to monitor potential impacts from the storm that could occur throughout its 16-county…

Hillsborough and Pinellas County high schools participated in the 2017 Tampa Bay Regional Envirothon. This annual environmental education program allows students to use critical thinking skills to investigate and solve environmental issues in the field through hands-on activities.  The District has sponsored the program since it began in 1997 by providing funding to offset the cost of transporting students to the competition. Further support is given by supplying…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District will hold a Preliminary Evaluation Committee Meeting on Tuesday, August 12, at 2:00 p.m. (local time) to evaluate responses to RFP 25-4798 Oracle Third Party Support. The committee members will discuss their review of the responses and may select a firm to award, select firms to be shortlisted for further evaluation, or reject all responses.  The meeting will be held virtually through the link below: Join…

Did you know that each person in our region uses an average of 72 gallons of water each day? That’s a lot of water down the drain! April is Water Conservation Month, a perfect time for homeowners to reflect on their water use. Here are some simple yet effective ways to save water both inside and outside your home.…

At its July 26 meeting, the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Alafia River Basin Board adopted a fiscal year 2008 (FY2008) millage rate of 0.2163 mill, which is .0237 less than the current fiscal year. This reduction is in accordance with the tax reduction mandated by the Florida Legislature.The FY2008 millage rate has been set equal to 97 percent of the rolled-back rate in compliance with House Bill 1B, the tax reform legislation signed into law by Gov.…

Emergency Operations Center at Level 2 Activation - All District Offices Closed Thursday AfternoonSouthwest Florida Water Management District officials are monitoring Tropical Storm Hermine and have raised the activation level of the District's Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to Level 2. The EOC provides direction and controls District activities during an emergency weather event.The District is continuing to monitor potential flooding that could occur throughout our 16-…

Due to the deteriorating weather conditions of Tropical Storm Hermine, the Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) is cancelling tomorrow's public meeting regarding flood prone areas in Sumter County. The meeting has been rescheduled to Thursday, September 22 beginning at 4:00 p.m. The meeting will take place at the Bushnell Community Center, located at 407 E. Belt Avenue in Bushnell. The purpose of the meeting is to gather information to improve…

Pinellas County waters saw an overall increase of 150 acres in seagrass coverage, according to recently released results from the District’s 2014 seagrass mapping study. Pinellas County waters — St. Joseph Sound, Clearwater Harbor North and Clearwater Harbor South – now collectively support 17,334 acres of seagrass beds.  The District maps seagrass in five estuaries spanning the five coastal counties of Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee, Sarasota and Charlotte…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District recommends homeowners with inground irrigation systems observe “Smart Irrigation Month” by taking a moment to tune up their irrigation systems and check their rain shut-off devices.Each year the Irrigation Association designates July as “Smart Irrigation Month” to raise awareness about how residents can improve irrigation efficiency, conserve water, lower their water bills, reduce runoff and eliminate…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District is joining with the Science and Environment Council (SEC) to celebrate Sarasota’s watersheds and promote watershed awareness by declaring Oct. 13 through 19 as “Watershed Awareness Week.”The District’s Manasota Basin Board is co-sponsoring Watershed Awareness Week in an effort to foster good watershed stewardship.The SEC is a group of nonprofit and government organizations that operate to support…

The "Southwest Florida Water Management District ":http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/ (District) is gathering information to improve the identification of flood prone areas in Polk County's Upper Peace River-Homeland watershed. Residents living in the watershed are invited to attend an open house on Wednesday, October 29, 2014 beginning at 4:00 p.m. The meeting will take place at the Bartow Public Library on the 2nd floor, located at 2150 S. Broadway Ave. in Bartow.District…

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…

The "Southwest Florida Water Management District ":http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/ (District) is gathering information to improve identification of flood prone areas in Highlands County's Lake Placid watershed. Residents living in Lake Placid watershed are invited to attend an open house on Thursday, September 11 beginning at 4:00 p.m. The meeting will take place at Bert J. Harris, Jr. Agricultural Center, located at 4509 George Blvd. in Sebring.District representatives will…