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WhoPasco County teachers and students who received Splash! mini-grants; Laura Hill, Pasco County instructional supervisor; and Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) Youth Education staffWhatThe District is holding its annual sharing day for recipients of its Splash! mini-grants in Pasco County. District Youth Education staff and Pasco County’s Instructional Supervisor will visit five sites throughout the day. Each class will showcase their water…

Who: Southwest Florida Water Management District Basin Board members and staff; Mike Hickman, Hickman Homes, Inc. president; and the Polk County Builders AssociationWhat: The District will celebrate the completion of a Florida Water StarSM Gold (FWSG) certified home that will be featured in the Polk County Parade of Homes. The fall Parade of Homes is Oct. 17-18 and Oct. 24-25.FWSG is a certification program for builders and developers. The program encourages water…

Representative Mike Grant presented the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Manasota Basin Board with a ceremonial check for $15 million for the District’s West-Central Florida Water Restoration Action Plan (WRAP.)Gov. Charlie Crist included WRAP in his 2008-09 budget request to the Legislature. Rep. Grant is a strong advocate for WRAP and helped secure support among House members, which led to inclusion of WRAP in the state’s budget.“…

Jack Pepper, deputy general counsel, is presented with the District’s first Shining Star award by Bill Bilenky, general counsel; Tammy Antoine, water conservation analyst and Employee Committee chair; and Pamela Baldwin, senior human resources generalist. Jack Pepper, a District deputy general counsel, gleamed as the Employee Committee and fellow coworkers presented him with the first Shining Star award, a new recognition program recently…

Left: Joel DeAngelis, senior land management specialist, shows volunteers Porgy Smith and Ellen Puckett how to remove the invasive plants. Top right: Samantha DeVary, volunteer, shows how small some of the invasive plants can be. Bottom right: Joel DeAngelis shows volunteers the area where they will be removing invasive plants. An invasive plant species, green wandering jew, was beginning to get a foothold at the District’s Panasoffkee Outlet property in Sumter…

More than 300 volunteers broke a record last weekend at the Rock Ponds Ecosystem Project when they planted 40,000 plugs of marsh grass, making it the largest installation of marsh plants in Tampa Bay.  The event was a collaboration between the District’s SWIM program and Tampa Bay Watch, Hillsborough County and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.  “In just an hour, this has gone from looking like a desert to all this green. It’s amazing…

The District is hosting a public meeting 5 p.m. April 16 to provide information and get feedback on the Weeki Wachee Channel Restoration Project. The purpose of this multi-year project is to evaluate accumulated sediments in the river and identify where future removal of sediments will benefit the river’s ecosystem…

"Southwest Florida Water Management District(Southwest Florida Water Management District)":/ Executive Director "David L. Moore(David L. Moore Bio)":/about/staff/moore.php resigned today but has offered to continue temporarily in the role to help facilitate the successful transition of the next executive director.Moore, who was appointed executive director in March 2003, says he feels he is leaving the District at the right time."The past eight years have been extremely…

Employee committee members Audra Owens-Powell, senior human resources specialist; Yassert Gonzalez, economist; Tammy Antoine, water conservation analyst; Chan Springstead, planner; Cindy Ortiz, senior administrative assistant; Josie Guillen, administrative assistant 2; and Darlene Johnson, senior administrative assistant, with the gifts for the children of the “adopted families.” For the thirteenth year, District employees have helped make the holidays brighter…

Electronic Innovation Testing is complete! The District is now offering the opportunity for permit holders to submit required data conditions over the Internet. A few years ago, the District asked permit holders if there was an interest in doing away with the current forms and submitting data online. The answer was a resounding “YES.” Permit holders also told the District about specific needs and wants with an online system and staff developers successfully…

 Forty-four volunteers recently combed the Tampa Bay shoreline and adjacent upland habitats associated with the Rock Ponds Ecosystem Restoration Project to pick up trash. The volunteers came together for “Give a Day for the Bay” one of …

Surrounding the crystal waters of Three Sisters Springs, visitors can 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 will be restoring the shoreline around Three Sisters Springs. The project will start this month, and the District will host a meeting at Crystal River’s City Hall at 5:30 p.m…

Seven springs restoration projects in Citrus and Hernando Counties will receive $12 million in state funding from Legacy Florida through the department’s Division of Water Restoration Assistance program. This funding is expected to leverage nearly $3 million in matching funds for a total of $15 million. The District’s projects are part of 35 springs projects across the state to receive more than $56.6 million  included in the 2016-17 “FLORIDA FIRST” budget,…

Who:Southwest Florida Water Management District Governing and Basin Board members and staff, hundreds of volunteersWhat:District volunteers awards presentation, exhibits, picnic lunch and nature hike. Speakers include Governing Board chair, Heidi McCree; and Martha Garcia, Tampa Bay Watch environmental scientist.When:Saturday, April 8, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The award ceremony begins at 11:30 a.m.Where:Green…

River Model Scenarios Nineteen scenarios have been identified through years of meetings and workshops with external stakeholders, special interest groups and residents. These scenarios are being tested by the model to show how historical alterations have affected the river and watershed. They include:

• Five scenarios in the Green Swamp…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District Governing Board Tuesday adopted its proposed fiscal year 2010 (FY2010) millage rates for the General Fund and the seven Basin Boards.The Governing Board adopted a proposed FY2010 millage rate of 0.3866 mill for the District’s General Fund, which is the same as the current fiscal year. FY2010 will run from Oct. 1, 2009, through Sept. 30, 2010.The total proposed FY2010 budget for the District is $299.9 million, 20.33…

Nature enthusiasts who visit the District’s Potts Preserve from late July through October should keep an eye out for a rare orchid first discovered on this Citrus County land. Joel DeAngelis, a District senior land management specialist, discovered the orchid in October growing in the open grassland of Potts Preserve. DeAngelis brought Paul M. Brown, a research associate with the University of Florida Herbarium, to the site in November. “When Paul saw it, he…

Hispanic Outreach Nearly 10 percent of the people who live in the District are Hispanic, and for many, Spanish is their first language. To reach that audience with a water conservation message, the District developed the Hispanic Outreach Program. The idea behind the campaign began with the Governing Board’s Diversity Committee, said project manager John Walkinshaw. Spanish-speaking District employees also showed an interest in promoting the outreach. Alberto…

Most District Basin Boards Propose Lower FY2011 Budgets At their June meetings, the District’s Basin Boards proposed FY2011 millage rates that are equal to or lower than the FY2010 rates, resulting in ad valorem revenue of $58.5 million, $9.7 million lower than FY2010. The Pinellas-Anclote River and Hillsborough River basin boards reduced their proposed millage rates for FY2011, while the remaining Basin Boards left millage rates unchanged. With the…