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The "Southeast Region(U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region)":http://www.fws.gov/southeast of the "U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service(U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)":http://www.fws.gov has recognized the "Southwest Florida Water Management District(Southwest Florida Water Management District)":/ for its part in the Three Sisters Springs land acquisition project.Eric Sutton, District Land Resources director, and Gary Williams, District senior environmental scientist,… Read more

The "Southwest Florida Water Management District(Southwest Florida Water Management District)":http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us and the "City of St. Petersburg(St. Petersburg)":http://www.stpete.org are offering city water customers a free sprinkler system checkup.City of St. Petersburg water customers who have an operating in-ground sprinkler system with a timer are eligible for the free program. Customers who irrigate with reclaimed, well or drinking water can apply for the… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board Tuesday approved a project that will reduce groundwater pumping in DeSoto County.Project partner Island Grove Agricultural Products’ Farm #5 is located along S.R. 763 in the Hawthorne Creek watershed. This watershed drains to Joshua Creek and is approximately 14 miles upstream of the Peace River, in the Shell, Prairie, and Joshua Creek Priority Area. This area is also part of the District’s… Read more

Read All About It The District received a special recognition award at the Mayor’s Beautification Program’s 16th annual breakfast for its continued support of the News In Education (NIE) program, a cooperative effort between schools and The Tampa Tribune. Last year the District’s Alafia River, Hillsborough River and Northwest Hillsborough basin boards approved a combined $10,000 for the NIE program, which produced “Safeguarding Tampa’s Shoreline Treasures,” a… Read more

Twelve Hernando 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… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District Governing Board Tuesday adopted proposed Fiscal Year 2007 (FY2007) millage rates. The District’s proposed millage rate remains the same as last year for the District’s General Fund. The proposed millage rates for seven District Basin Boards also remain the same. The Coastal Rivers Basin Board lowered its millage rate.The eight Basin Boards will meet in August to adopt their final FY2007 millage rates. The final millage rates… Read more

Two Southwest Florida Water Management District projects will help two Hardee County citrus groves reduce groundwater pumping.The first project involves installing two soil moisture sensors and a weather station at the Groves of Peace River, Inc. and the second project involves installing four soil moisture sensors and two weather stations at Las Lomas Holdings, Inc.Soil moisture sensors increase irrigation efficiency by only irrigating when water is needed. Weather… Read more

Who:Southwest Florida Water Management District staffWhat: The District is installing a pump and pipes at the Morris Bridge Sink. The pump system will allow the District to test to see if it is feasible to pump water from the sink to augment the Hillsborough River. In addition, the water pumped from the sink will be made available to Tampa Bay Water as a water supply source.When: Friday, April 3, 10 a.m.Where: Morris Bridge Sink, just east of I-75 and the Tampa Bypass… Read more

TheDeSoto County Parks and Recreation Department will receive a $5,000 Community Education Grant from the Southwest Florida Water Management District for a three-part environmental education event at Morgan Park in Arcadia.The event consists of a one-hour educational program, a guided canoe cleanup of the Peace River and the installation of interpretive signs. The event will reduce pollution in the Peace River, as well as teach park visitors about the proper way to dispose… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District recently approved a project that will reduce groundwater pumping in Charlotte County.This project is for Ben Hill Griffin Inc., C & S Grove, a 1,665-acre citrus grove in the Shell Creek watershed. The grove is also located within the Southern Water Use Caution Area (SWUCA).The primary goal of the project is to reduce groundwater pumping from the Intermediate and Upper Floridan aquifers by irrigating 80 percent of the grove… Read more

The "Southwest Florida Water Management District ":http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/ (District) is gathering information to improve identification of flood prone areas in Pasco County's New River/Upper Hillsborough River watersheds. Residents living in the New River/Upper Hillsborough River watersheds are invited to attend an open house on Thursday, May 22, 2014, beginning at 4:00 p.m. The meeting will take place at Wesley Chapel High School, located at 30651 Wells Road, Wesley… Read more

 About the FARMS ProgramFARMS is an agricultural cost-share reimbursement program that reduces groundwater withdrawals from the Upper Floridan aquifer through conservation and alternative water supply best management practices (BMPs). In conjunction with water conservation BMPs, water quality and natural systems improvement BMPs also may be cost-shared in priority areas.The program is designed to serve as an incentive to the agricultural community to promote water… Read more

A cooperatively funded project between the Southwest Florida Water Management District and the City of Lakeland will restore Lake Morton shoreline, which in turn will prevent erosion, improve water quality and provide natural habitat.Lake Morton is a 40-acre lake with approximately 1 mile of shoreline. The lake, located in a highly urbanized part of Lakeland, is a headwater lake in the Peace River system that discharges into Lake Hollingsworth. Its water quality and… Read more

Projects of Distinction The Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council recently recognized the District during its 13th Annual Future of the Region Awards program. One District Surface Water Improvement and Management (SWIM) project and two education projects were honored during the ceremony, recognizing notable achievements in resource planning and management in the region. Port Redwing Habitat Restoration/ Fred & Idah Schultz Preserve The… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District issued a water shortage emergency order for the Peace River/Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority to protect the drinking water supply for more than 250,000 residents.The executive order signed Friday will allow the Authority to use its two existing aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) wellfields to pump groundwater once the treated water being stored in the wellfields is depleted.As of Jan. 7, the Authority had a total of 609… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District Governing Board today agreed to help pay for a $235 million project to produce 25 million gallons of water per day to meet water supply needs in the Tampa Bay area.Known as the System Configuration II project, the Tampa Bay Water project would take additional water from the Hillsborough River and Tampa Bypass Canal during mid- to high-flow periods to be treated and stored in TBW’s C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir.The… Read more

Restrictions eased for Manatee, Sarasota, DeSoto and Charlotte countiesEditor's note: Contact Robyn Felix at Robyn.Felix@WaterMatters.org to receive a color map via email.The Southwest Florida Water Management District's Governing Board voted today to ease water restrictions for Manatee, Sarasota, DeSoto and Charlotte counties. The Board voted to lift the Phase III restrictions for the Southern counties in the District due to improvements in public water supply storage as a… Read more

The Crystal Springs Foundation will receive a $1,800 grant from the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s 2006 Community Education Grant Program.Crystal Springs Foundation, Inc. was awarded the funds for “Welcome to Our Watershed” workshops. This project expands upon the cooperator’s previous efforts and will target approximately 20,000 seasonal adult residents of Crystal Springs and Zephyrhills in Pasco County. The workshops will encourage residents to take an… Read more

!{SITE_ROOT}image/type/MaxWidth/max/300/id/909/!Region moves from critical to extreme water shortageThe Southwest Florida Water Management District's Governing Board voted to reduce the water restrictions in the Tampa Bay Water service area from Modified Phase IV (or Critical) toModified Phase III (or Extreme) for potable water use.The… Read more

*Lecanto Primary School* will educate community members regarding efficient ways to conserve water in gardens or plantings around the home through a Community Education Grant from the "Southwest Florida Water Management District(Southwest Florida Water Management District)":http://watermatters.org.Through a workshop, residents will learn about water conservation and rainbarrel installation and care techniques. The workshop will be held 5:30 p.m. March 25 in the school's… Read more