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The District’s Governing Board recently approved the first parcel of land for surplus and the assessment process received glowing reviews. Board members approved the surplus of a 6-acre portion of the Frog Creek tract in Manatee County. Staff determined the northwest corner of the tract has no significant conservation value. The District will retain the remaining portion of the 127 acres located near Interstate 275 and US 41. The property includes several areas…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board voted today to modify its existing Phase I water shortage, expanding it to cover the District’s entire 16-county area beginning May 8.  Under Phase I, water utilities and their local governments are expected to review and revise water restriction enforcement procedures, begin monthly enforcement reporting and…

It started with a single blade of eelgrass, actually thousands of them.  District springs experts are hoping those blades of grass will thrive and grow into dense vegetation that will improve water quality and sustain beneficial fish and wildlife habitats in Kings Bay. The pilot project is part of the District’s Hunters Cove Restoration Project. The first phase of the project is to grow a special type of eelgrass in mats made of coconut coir material. This…

The District’s Water Conservation Hotel and Motel Program (Water C.H.A.M.P.) is being noticed throughout the southeast for its success. Governing Board member Watson Haynes II and Melissa Roe, a District senior communications coordinator, will represent the District when they accept a Gulf Guardian Award in Corpus Christi, Texas. Water C.H.A.M.P. received second place among government programs that help protect the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf Guardian Awards are…

Relief is on the way for the lower Hillsborough River thanks to a series of actions taken by the Southwest Florida Water Management District Governing Board Tuesday.The Board approved new minimum flows for the lower portion of the river, a Recovery Strategy to restore flows to the river, and a funding agreement with Tampa on a series of minimum flow-related projects.Aminimum flow or level (MFL) is the limit at which further water withdrawals will cause…

In April, the Southwest Florida Water Management District will celebrate the Peace River and the Peace River watershed with a series of events along the river.The District’s Peace River Basin Board has declared the week of April 14 through April 21 as “Peace River Watershed Awareness Week.” Participating county governments also plan to recognize this first-of-a-kind event.In conjunction with the awareness week, four events are planned within the Peace…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District honored two outstanding Sumter 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 Sumter County recipients are listed below. Part of Sumter County is within the District’s Withlacoochee River Basin, which also includes portions of Citrus Hernando, Marion, Pasco and Levy counties.…

To provide flood protection to lakefront properties, the Southwest Florida Water Management District Tuesday will begin releasing water through flood control structure S-353 on the Hernando Pool of the Tsala Apopka Chain of Lakes.S-353 releases water into an outfall canal that discharges into the Withlacoochee River near Holder. The operation of the structure is guided by a legal agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that requires water to be released when levels…

To provide flood protection to lakefront properties, the Southwest Florida Water Management District Tuesday will begin releasing water through flood control structure S-353 on the Hernando Pool of the Tsala Apopka Chain of Lakes.S-353 releases water into an outfall canal that discharges into the Withlacoochee River near Holder. The operation of the structure is guided by a legal agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that requires water to be released when levels…

 The Rock Ponds Ecosystem Restoration Project has become a showcase project for habitat restoration through community partnerships. That’s why the project was just recognized by the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council. The District won first place in the Natural Environment category in the Future…

The District’s Governing Board recognized Cheryl Paradis as one of this year’s springs community partners, while declaring April Springs Protection Awareness Month.  Paradis has served as the director and lead teacher at the Springs Coast Environmental Education Center on the Weeki Wachee River since 2008. Each year, she passionately educates approximately 8,000 Hernando County students, teachers and families about Weeki Wachee Springs and how to protect the…

At its June 11 meeting, the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Withlacoochee River Basin Board adopted a proposed fiscal year 2010 (FY2010) millage rate of 0.2308 mill, which is the same as the current fiscal year. The Withlacoochee River Basin Board area covers portions of Citrus, Hernando, Levy, Marion, Pasco and Sumter counties.This millage rate, combined with a reduction in taxable property values as estimated by the county property appraisers, will…

At its June 3 meeting, the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Pinellas-Anclote River Basin Board adopted a proposed fiscal year 2010 (FY2010) millage rate of 0.3600 mill, which is the same as the current fiscal year.This millage rate, combined with a reduction in property values as estimated by the Pinellas and Pasco county property appraisers, will result in an estimated 11.5 percent decrease in ad valorem property tax revenue from FY2009. These estimates…

Sixteen Manatee 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…

At its June 12 meeting, the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Withlacoochee River Basin Board adopted a proposed fiscal year 2009 (FY2009) millage rate of 0.2308 mill, which is the same as the current fiscal year. The Withlacoochee River Basin Board area covers portions of Pasco, Hernando, Citrus, Sumter, Marion, and Levy counties.This millage rate, combined with a reduction in taxable property values as estimated by the county property appraisers, will…

At its June 9 meeting, the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Hillsborough River Basin Board adopted a proposed fiscal year 2009 (FY2009) millage rate of 0.2547 mill, which is the same rate as the current fiscal year. The Hillsborough River Basin Board area covers portions of Hillsborough, Pasco and Polk counties.The proposed budget for FY2009 is $20,020,887 which is an increase of $1,971,863 from the approved FY2008 budget. The increase is primarily due…

At its June 7 meeting, the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Alafia River Basin Board adopted a proposed fiscal year 2008 (FY2008) millage rate of 0.240 mill, which is the same as the current fiscal year.Further, in the event that a tax reduction is mandated by the Legislature during its special session later this month, the Basin Board has authorized the Executive Director to recalculate its millage rate to reflect the change in revenue prescribed by the…

At today’s meeting, the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Manasota Basin Board adopted a fiscal year 2007 (FY2007) millage rate of 0.160 mill, which is the same as the current fiscal year.The budget for FY2007 is $24,977,189, which is an increase of $4,741,656 from the approved FY2006 budget. The increase is attributed to increased property values and additional revenue from the State Water Protection and Sustainability Program for alternative water supply…

*_Phase III Could Be Declared for Tampa Bay Area if Conditions Worsen_*The "Southwest Florida Water Management District's Governing Board":http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/about/governingboard/ voted today to give the District's executive director the authority to issue an emergency order to increase water restrictions in the Tampa Bay area if conditions continue to worsen.Executive Director Blake Guillory is expected to declare a "Modified Phase III":http://www.swfwmd.state.fl…

*Editor's note: See included map of county and watersheds* The Southwest Florida Water Management District is gathering input needed to improve identification of flooding risks in the county. The District is serving as a cooperating technical partner for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on their national effort to update and modernize the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs). Most of the current FIRMs are 10 to 30 years old and are outdated because of…