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Celebrate February as Florida Hiking Trails Month exploring the more than 850 miles of hiking trails on District lands.
Florida Hiking Trails month, recognized by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, encourages Floridians to take advantage of Florida’s extensive trail system. Many trails on District lands are nearby and also are open for related activities such as nature study, bird watching, photography, jogging and backpacking.
The…
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…
Following Hurricane Milton, the Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) has deactivated the Tampa Bypass Canal System and the Hillsborough Flood Detention Area (HFDA), as water levels in the Hillsborough River have returned to normal. This marks a positive step as the region recovers from the heavy rainfall caused by the storm. To assist with flood control during the storm, the District activated the Tampa Bypass Canal System on October 8 to protect…
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…
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,…
A project funded by the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Pinellas-Anclote River Basin Board and Clearwater will make the city’s reclaimed water system more efficient, allowing more customers to connect.The Clearwater Reclaimed Water System Meter Retrofit Project consists of retrofitting approximately 3,300 existing Clearwater reclaimed water connections with individual meters and their related equipment. Retrofitting the meters will allow the city…
Surrounding the crystal waters of Three Sisters Springs, visitors could easily spot exposed tree roots and an eroded shoreline. The erosion has caused sediments to enter spring vents and trees to collapse. It has meant a loss of habitat and dangerous conditions for visitors.
That’s why the District is restoring the shoreline around Three Sisters Springs.
A floating platform was placed inside the spring to allow access to the shoreline, which is surrounded by trees…
As teachers go back to school, the Southwest Florida Water Management District would like to remind them about another important date to add to their calendar. The deadline to "apply for a Splash! mini-grant":/education/minigrants/ is Sept. 11, 2009.The goal of the mini-grant program is to promote hands-on water resources education that teaches students about their local watersheds and the freshwater resources within them. Splash! mini-grants provide up to $5,000 per school…
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…
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 has begun construction of a project that will improve water quality entering McKay Bay and Tampa Bay.The McKay Bay-Eastshore Commerce Park Parcel Stormwater Retrofit project will treat runoff from the 1,050-acre basin within the McKay Bay watershed of Tampa Bay, which is a Surface Water Improvement and Management (SWIM) priority water body. The project will be built on land owned by Tampa Bay Water.Stormwater will be diverted…
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…
The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board Tuesday recognized a District senior water conservation analyst for being named Water Reuse Person of the Year.Anthony Andrade was named “Water Reuse Person of the Year” when he was presented with the David W. York Reuse Award at the recent Florida Water Resources annual conference in Orlando. The annual award, which is presented by the Florida Water Environment Association (FWEA), is given to the person who…
From toddlers to grandparents, volunteers of all ages recently planted salt marsh at the District’s Rock Ponds restoration site.
About 275 volunteers from across the Tampa Bay area joined the District’s Surface Water Improvement and Management Program and Tampa Bay Watch in the planting of 32,000 marsh grass plugs. Hillsborough County and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission helped organize the event.
The plants were installed at the…
Just east of New Tampa’s subdivisions is an area where riders can wander through shaded forested wetlands and sunny pine flatwoods.
The Oak Ridge Equestrian Area is a 1,000-acre wilderness made to order for equestrian enthusiasts. The area is part of the Lower Hillsborough Wilderness Preserve, one of the largest premier contiguous recreation areas in Hillsborough County. While the Hillsborough County Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department manages many park…
The "Southwest Florida Water Management District(Southwest Florida Water Management District)":/ will temporarily close trails during November and December in the Flatwoods and Morris Bridge areas of the Lower Hillsborough Wilderness Preserve in Hillsborough County.The "Lower Hillsborough Wilderness Preserve(Lower Hillsborough Wilderness Preserve)":/recreation/areas/lowerhillsborough.html is located east of I-75 and north of US 301, approximately three miles northeast of…
District invites public to "Get Outside!" and visit the Starkey Wilderness Preserve - Serenova Tract »
table(webalert).|Who:|Pasco County residents, representatives from the Southwest Florida Water Management District, Pasco County Extension office, West Pasco Audubon Society, West Pasco Native Plant Society, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Florida Department of Health, “Step up, Florida!”, Around the Bend Nature Tours, District School Board of Pasco County and the Pioneer Florida Museum.||What:|The District is holding a free family-friendly…
- 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 (District) awarded $113,138 in grants to 52 educators 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 awareness…
Palmetto residents now have a new Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) well.
District leaders recently helped the City of Palmetto and other agencies cut the ribbon on the new facility, which will create an anticipated 144 million gallons per year of storage for reclaimed water that would otherwise be discharged into Terra Ceia Bay.
In the past 10 years, the city has developed a reclaimed water system that services the majority of residential and commercial customers.…