Search Content

The Florida Greenways and Trails Council has agreed to include three Southwest Florida Water Management District properties in the state’s designated system of greenways and trails.The properties include the 18,000-acre Starkey Wilderness Preserve in Pasco County, the 16,000-acre Lower Hillsborough Flood Detention Area in Hillsborough County and the 31-mile segment of the Florida National Scenic Trail that goes through the Green Swamp Wilderness Preserve.The goal of… Read more

table(webalert). |Who:|The Hernando County Housing Authority and the Southwest Florida Water Management District.||*What:*|Ribbon cutting ceremony for Magnolia Gardens, the first community in Florida to be certified under the Florida Water Star℠ standard.The 55 and older community will receive a plaque for completing the voluntary certification program for builders, developers and homeowners, which encourages water efficiency.The 60-unit apartment community met the… Read more

More and more community associations are asking the District and the county Extension agents with the Florida Yards & Neighborhoods program for help with their landscape and irrigation concerns. Some of the common problems Extension agents see include excessive watering and fertilizing as well as overpruning and improperly maintained irrigation systems. By taking a proactive approach to learn about efficient irrigating techniques and Florida-friendly landscaping,… Read more

The "Southwest Florida Water Management District(Southwest Florida Water Management District)":/ is celebrating "Florida Arbor Day(Florida Arbor Day)":http://www.arborday.org/states/?state=FL by inviting volunteers to the District's "Lake Panasoffkee property(Lake Panasoffkee property)":/recreation/areas/lakepanasoffkee.html in Sumter County to plant trees on Friday, Jan. 21, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.The District is planting several hundred trees, including live oaks and long… Read more

Paddlers have a chance to be part of history and join the members of the Florida Wildlife Corridor Expedition on their excursion along the Rainbow River. The District is hosting a Trail Mixer in partnership with the Expedition 9 a.m. Jan. 24 at Rainbow… Read more

Above, plantings at the Tampa office are beyond the building eaves, requiring less irrigation.  Below, fixture supply lines are required to be reinforced. As in most District offices, water-saving fixtures are used.  The Tampa Service Office campus has the first water management district building to be certified under the Florida Water StarSM commercial standard. It’s also only the second government building in the state to be certified… Read more

When you reset those clocks this weekend for the start of Daylight Saving Time, don’t forget to check the timers on your irrigation system controllers.  Sunday is when we reset the clocks forward one hour. The time change is also a good time to make sure irrigation   system timers are set correctly to ensure that the systems operate consistently with current water restrictions. Under the District’s current year-round water conservation measures,… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board last week adopted interim rules for water use permits in the Central Florida Coordination Area.The Coordination Area has limited traditional groundwater supplies that will not be adequate to meet all future demands, necessitating the need to develop alternative water supplies.The rules are part of the Action Plan that coordinates efforts among the Southwest Florida, South Florida and St. Johns River… Read more

When you reset those clocks this weekend for the start of Daylight Saving Time, don’t forget to check the timers on your irrigation system controllers.  Sunday is when we reset the clocks forward one hour. The time change is also a good time to make sure irrigation   system timers are set correctly to ensure that the systems operate consistently with current water restrictions. Under the District’s current year-round water conservation measures,… Read more

When you reset those clocks this weekend for the start of Daylight Saving Time, don’t forget to check the timers on your irrigation system controllers.  Sunday is when we reset the clocks forward one hour. The time change is also a good time to make sure irrigation   system timers are set correctly to ensure that the systems operate consistently with current water restrictions. Under the District’s current year-round water conservation measures,… Read more

Governor Ron DeSantis appointed James Holton, Dustin Rowland and Robert Stern to the Southwest Florida Water Management District's Governing Board. Holton, of St. Petersburg, is the president and owner of JWH Properties, Inc., MHH Enterprises, Inc. and James W. Holton, P.A. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and his master's degree and juris doctor from Boston University. Holton represents Pinellas County. Rowland, of Dade City, is the president… Read more

Long Distance Assistance As of Friday morning, August 13, Hurricane Charley was still projected to strike the Tampa Bay area. That’s when Garry Flood’s supervisor, Dale Ravencraft, asked him to travel to Tallahassee and serve in Florida’s State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC). “I had to leave my wife and two teenage kids here in order to help out,” said Flood. “It was a hard situation, but I just had to pray that they would be safe while I went to help other… Read more

Clearwater Mayor Frank Hibbard calls it “another gem in the crown of Clearwater,” but Kapok Park wasn’t always a beautiful public green space, home to roseate spoonbills, wood storks, sandpipers and many other shorebirds. In December, Representative Gus Bilirakis joined members of the District’s Governing and Pinellas-Anclote River Basin boards, along with the Clearwater mayor and several city staff members, in celebrating the completion of a $19.3 million floodplain… Read more

Hundreds of volunteers trudged through the mud to get to hard-to-reach places that needed planting.               This September approximately 400 volunteers set out across 32 acres of muddy ground at the Terra Ceia Aquatic and State Park preserves restoration project in Manatee County with one goal in mind: The volunteers were determined to set a new record for the most plants installed during a… Read more

The ROMP Objectives

• Provide information about the groundwater systems within the District.
• Monitor saltwater intrusion along the coast.
• Identify areas of poor groundwater quality.
• Install wells for water level and water quality monitoring.

About the Program The majority of the water used within the Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) comes from groundwater sources and it is the District’s… Read more

The Florida Senate has confirmed the appointments of Southwest Florida Water Management District Executive Director Robert Beltran and seven Governing Board members. H. Paul Senft, Jr., representing Polk County, was first appointed to the Governing Board in 2008 and reappointed in 2012 by Governor Rick Scott. His term expires in March of 2019.Jeffery M. Adams, representing Pinellas County, was first appointed to the Governing Board in 2010 and reappointed by Governor Rick… Read more

Who:Representatives from the Southwest Florida Water Management District; Doris Heitzmann, Florida Yards & Neighborhoods homeowners association outreach coordinator with the Pinellas County Extension office, members of the condominium association’s (COA) landscape committee and the Royal Stewart Arms property managerWhat:Royal Stewart Arms is an example of an COA that puts the “Skip a Week” of irrigation concept into action. In addition to only… Read more

Two Hernando County projects were awarded Community Education Grants from the Southwest Florida Water Management District. 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 49 grants Districtwide for a total of $171,444. This is the 10th year Community Education Grants have been available.The overall goal of the Community Education Grant Program is to… Read more

Above left: This series of pictures shows the dredging machine, the pipe through the lake that carried dredged material to the spoil site and the spoil site. Above right: Anglers enjoy Lake Panasoffkee. The recently completed Lake Panasoffkee restoration project is being hailed as a huge success by Lake Panasoffkee residents and anglers. The $26.9 million, ten-year project restored Lake Panasoffkee’s historic fish bedding areas and lake shoreline by removing… Read more

Who: Southwest Florida Water Management District staffWhat: The District is installing approximately 3,000 aquatic plants along the Weeki Wachee River headspring.When: Thursday, April 9, 10 a.m.Where: Weeki Wachee Springs State Park, 6131 Commercial Way, Spring HillWhy: This is the final phase of a restoration project that also involved removing sediments, Lyngbya algae and other invasive vegetation to help improve the water quality.As part of the project, approximately 101… Read more