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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

Just northeast of the Lake Manatee Reservoir in Manatee County, undisturbed areas of native habitats provide an example of historic Florida palmetto prairie, pine flatwoods and scrubby flatwoods communities. The District’s Gilley Creek Tract, part of the Edward W. Chance Reserve, gives Manatee County residents an opportunity to see Florida the way it used to be. “We have a very good example of an old historic Florida ecosystem at the Gilley Creek property,” said… Read more

Caver Studies Effects on Springs Beneath your feet exists a part of Florida few ever see but all should value. Deep below the earth’s surface, caverns have formed by water seeping into cracks and slowly dissolving the rock below. Over thousands of years, these voids become larger and create sinkholes and caves. That water can flow into disappearing streams, and underground rivers and then flow back up to the land surface as springs. Photo Courtesy Jason Polk… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) awarded $97,640.28 in grants to 43 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… Read more

Governor Rick Scott appointed Jim Murphy to the Southwest Florida Water Management District's Governing Board. Murphy represents Polk County. Murphy, 57, of Lakeland, is the division president of Florida Sealing Products, Inc. He attended The Ohio State University. Murphy is appointed for a term beginning July 28, 2017, and ending March 1, 2021.Governing Board members are unpaid, citizen volunteers who are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Florida Senate. The… Read more

An eagle scout, campground hosts and an equestrian group are among the volunteers honored Tuesday at the Southwest Florida Water Management District Governing Board meeting in Brooksville.The volunteers, who either take part in the District’s Land Resources Volunteer Program or the District’s Surface Water Improvement and Management (SWIM) Program, received the President’s Volunteer Service Award, a national honor that recognizes volunteer dedication and… Read more

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… Read more

Several hundred Pasco County residents joined the District at its first “Get Outside!” Day community event at Starkey Wilderness Preserve’s Serenova Tract. The event was an opportunity for the District to introduce the property to the surrounding community and encourage more frequent use of the land. More than 400 people attended the event — 74 percent of whom were first-time visitors. “It was a beautiful day and a great turnout by local residents to enjoy a… Read more

Don Kubiak, director of the botanical gardens, and Dick Keller, co-director, share a laugh with Fox 13’s Bill Murphy during the taping of a One Tank Trips segment featuring the Nature Coast Botanical Gardens. The District is celebrating an educational milestone with the 10th anniversary of the Community Education Grant Program, a program that motivates adults to get involved in projects that promote water resources protection. The grants are used for… Read more

The "Southwest Florida Water Management District Governing Board(Governing Board)":/about/governingboard voted Tuesday to begin the rulemaking process to increase its share of costs for projects that reduce groundwater pumping for frost/freeze protection in the Dover/Plant City area.The increase will be part of the "District's(Southwest Florida Water Management District)":/ Facilitating Agricultural Resource Management Systems, or FARMS, Program. "FARMS (FARMS Program)":/… Read more