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The school year may have come to an end, but educators interested in securing grant funding for next year can begin applying online for a Southwest Florida Water Management District Splash! mini-grant.Grant funding is for classroom projects that focus on water quality, natural systems, water conservation, alternative water sources, flood protection or watersheds.The goal of the mini-grant program is to promote hands-on water resources education that teaches students about…
The Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) awarded $119,000 in grants to 65 schools within the District as part of the Splash! school grant program. The program provides up to $3,000 per school to enhance student knowledge of freshwater resources in grades K-12.
Splash! grants encourage hands-on student learning through STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) activities as well as engagement of the greater school community through…
- Many rivers in the Tampa Bay region have been severely impacted by flooding from Hurricane Milton. The only flood records higher than what we are experiencing now were in the early 1930s.
- The region received above average rainfall in its rainy season of June through September, and its lakes, streams, ponds, wetlands and aquifer levels were already full before Hurricane Milton brought a tremendous amount of rain to the region…
The Southwest Florida Water Management District Governing Board today approved a project that will reduce groundwater pumping at a strawberry farm in southeastern Hillsborough County.The project involves installing an integrated irrigation system that will include a weather station, soil moisture sensors, and automated valves at Berry Bay Farms.Installing a weather station helps farmers irrigate more precisely, based on weather conditions. For example, during frost-freeze…
ORLANDO, Fla., Oct. 23, 2013 – A public workshop will be held to discuss the technical data and modeling tools being used in the development of the Central Florida Water Initiative (CFWI) Regional Water Supply Plan. The workshop will include presentations and opportunities for questions and public input. CFWI technical experts will be available for individual discussions.Date: Thursday, November 7, 2013Time: 10 a.m. – noonLocation: Osceola Heritage Park, 1875 Silver Spur…
An agreement signed by the Southwest Florida Water Management District and Charlotte County will bring reclaimed water to several Charlotte County Schools and many other customers in Port Charlotte.The Charlotte County Regional Reclaimed Water Expansion project consists of constructing approximately 58,500 linear feet reclaimed water transmission line to transport reclaimed water from Charlotte County East Port Wastewater Treatment Facility (WWTF), west through Port…
The Southwest Florida Water Management District and Pinellas County are working on a study to determine if water from Lake Tarpon can be used to supplement the county’s North Reclaimed Water System.By supplementing the reclaimed water system, more customers can be connected to the system, which will help offset groundwater pumping.Based on the premise that the reclaimed water system may be supplemented by up to 3 million gallons per day at different times throughout…
With spring break season approaching, the Southwest Florida Water Management District (District), along with other local and state partners, wants to remind Chassahowitzka River visitors about the recreational best practices that will help protect the river and reduce ecological impacts.
Recreational activities can have a direct impact on the health of the river. For example, visitors leaving kayaks while on the river have trampled vegetation and eroded riverbanks. Also…
With spring break season approaching, the Southwest Florida Water Management District (District), along with other local and state partners, wants to remind Weeki Wachee River visitors about the recreational best practices that will help protect the river and reduce ecological impacts.
An ecologically based study found direct links between recreational use on the river and environmental damage. For example, visitors leaving kayaks while on the river have trampled…
The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board approved funding for two reclaimed water studies to maximize the beneficial use of reclaimed water in the region.The first study is for a traditional reclaimed water supply project that would involve constructing a pipeline from one or more of several waste water treatment plants to the Tampa Electric Company (TECO) power plant station in Polk County and Mosaic Fertilizer. Possible sources of the…
The Southwest Florida Water Management District will recognize Hulbert Homes, Inc. as the first builder in Polk County to have a Florida Water Star Gold ℠ (FWSG) certified home Friday, April 17 at the Polk County Builders Association Parade of Homes Kick-Off Party, 5 p.m. at 2505 Bramble Ridge Dr. in Lakeland.FWSG is a voluntary certification program for builders. It encourages water efficiency in household appliances, plumbing fixtures, irrigation systems and landscapes, as…
Habitats are thriving at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa thanks to a District project aimed at restoring natural systems and improving water quality for Tampa Bay.
District staff completed the third and final phase of a restoration project at MacDill last fall, along the southern tip of Tampa’s Interbay Peninsula near the base’s golf course.
Workers dug and expanded water channels, removed non-native plants and planted native species in an effort to improve…
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…
Low- and moderate-income first time home buyers in the Tampa Bay area will soon have the opportunity to purchase affordable, water-conserving homes.Florida Home Partnership, Inc. has agreed to take part in the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Florida Water StarSM Gold (FWSG), a new comprehensive water conservation program for new home construction. This voluntary certification program for builders encourages water efficiency in household appliances,…
The Southwest Florida Water Management District and the Town of Redington Beach recently signed an agreement for a project that will reduce flooding and improve water quality.This project involves upgrading the stormwater system by adding inlets and storm piping, a Continuous Deflective Separation (CDS) unit, that filters out sediment from the stormwater runoff and the associated roadway reconstruction. These infrastructure improvements will be built within the area of 1st…
The Southwest Florida Water Management District would like to invite local schools to participate in this year’s World Water Monitoring Day activities.World Water Monitoring Day is actually a month-long, international outreach program that builds public awareness and involvement in protecting water resources around the world. The annual event invites students to monitor the quality of their local rivers, streams, estuaries, and other waterbodies from September 18 to…
The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board Tuesday renewed and modified a water use permit (WUP) for the City of Lakeland.The modified permit increases the permitted quantities for the city. The previous annual average permitted quantity was 30.2 million gallons of water per day (mgd.) The new permitted quantity is 35.03 mgd.The quantity was increased because the permit expiration date was changed from 2014 to 2028, with a corresponding increase…
The Southwest Florida Water Management District (District), along with other local and state partners, launched the Weeki Wachee River Education Campaign to inform river visitors about the recreational best management practices that will help protect the river and reduce ecological impacts.
A recent ecologically based study found direct links between recreational use on the river and environmental damage. For example, visitors leaving kayaks while on the…
District staff is asking agricultural and recreational water use permit holders for their input on how the District can make the online permit data submittal process more user-friendly.
Reported permit data is used by the water management district to help manage the state’s water resources and can be used by permit holders to conserve water and energy. The District’s goal is to streamline this process and make information easily accessible for the public and District…
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…