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Gov. Charlie Crist recently reassigned one member and appointed two new members to the Governing Board of the Southwest Florida Water Management District.

• Judy Whitehead of Brooksville was reassigned to succeed Patsy C. Symons. Last year the state legislature reassigned Symons’ seat to represent Hernando and Marion counties and added two new seats to the Governing Board for a total of 13 members. Whitehead, the owner of Residential Appraisal Service, was first…

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Governor Ron DeSantis appointed Nancy Watkins and reappointed Ashley Bell Barnett, Kelly Rice, and Joel Schleicher to the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board. Watkins represents Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, Bell Barnett represents Polk County, Rice represents Citrus, Lake, Levy and Sumter counties and Schleicher represents Charlotte and Sarasota counties. Watkins, of Tampa, is a certified public accountant at Robert Watkins & Company… Read more

According to the National Weather Service, parts of the Tampa Bay area may see freezing temperatures during early morning hours on Sunday. This has prompted the Southwest Florida Water Management District to advise residents who live near Plant City and Dover to switch off the pumps on their wells Saturday night and leave the pumps off until the temperatures warm up in the morning. Temperatures are expected to drop below 34 degrees for several hours early Sunday morning.… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) is gathering information to improve identification of flood prone areas in Polk County. The District will provide a virtual public comment period now through March 5 at WaterMatters.org/Floodplain… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District will be conducting “controlled, prescribed burns” during October on the District’s Weekiwachee Preserve and the Annuteliga Hammock.The Annuteliga Hammock tract is located in Hernando County, near Royal Highlands and U.S. Hwy. 19. Approximately 260 acres of land will be burned in small, manageable units.The Weekiwachee Preserve is located in Hernando and Pasco counties, approximately one mile west of Spring… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District will be conducting “controlled, prescribed burns” during January and February for two District sites in Sarasota County the Schewe Ranch property and the Deer Prairie Creek property.Both tracts are located to the north and south of I-75 between mile markers 186 and 190, with U.S. Hwy. 41 as its far southern boundary. The property is also located between the Myakka River and the cities of North Port and Warm Mineral Springs.… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District will be conducting “controlled, prescribed burns” during October and November for two District sites in Sarasota County the Schewe Ranch property and the Deer Prairie Creek property.Both tracts are located to the north and south of I-75 between mile markers 186 and 190, with U.S. Hwy. 41 as its far southern boundary. The property is also located between the Myakka River and the cities of North Port and Warm… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District will be conducting “controlled, prescribed burns” July and August for two District sites in Sarasota County Myakka River Project property and the Deer Prairie Creek property.Both sites are located to the north and south of I-75 between mile markers 186 and 190, with U.S. Hwy. 41 as its far southern boundary. The property is also located between the Myakka River and the cities of North Port and Warm Mineral Springs… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District will be conducting “controlled, prescribed burns” during the months of February through April on the District’s Myakka River Project property. The property is located between I-75 and U.S. Hwy. 41 and between Myakka River and North Port. The scheduled, managed burns are a part of routine maintenance of lands managed by the District.There is the potential to burn approximately 2,000 acres of land in small,… Read more

Workshop to follow at 10:30 a.m. The Southwest Florida Water Management District's Governing Board will hold its monthly meeting Tuesday, Jan. 25, at 9 a.m. at the Tampa Service Office, located at 7601 U.S. Highway 301 North. After the Governing Board meeting, the District will hold an informational workshop on water resources planning and financial projections. Based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) regarding fully… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) will hold a virtual public workshop at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 1, to discuss updates to the District’s land use and management rules and processes. The purpose of this workshop is to update outdated rules and processes governing the use of District lands to create efficiencies. One of the major changes includes an annual limit on the number of nights campers can reserve per year, which will provide more fair… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District will be conducting “controlled, prescribed burns” during March and April on four District sites in Pasco County. The sites are the Upper Hillsborough property, the Conner Preserve, the Starkey property and the Cypress Creek property.The Upper Hillsborough property is approximately 3 miles east of Zephyrhills. Approximately 300 acres of land will be burned in small, manageable units.The Conner Preserve is… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District will be conducting “controlled, prescribed burns” during January and February on four District sites in Pasco County. The sites are the Upper Hillsborough property, the Conner Preserve, the Starkey property and the Cypress Creek property.The Upper Hillsborough property is approximately 3 miles east of Zephyrhills. Approximately 300 acres of land will be burned in small, manageable units.The Conner Preserve is… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District will be conducting “controlled, prescribed burns” February through May on the Myakka River Project property in Sarasota County.The District’s Myakka River Project property is located to the north and south of I-75 between mile markers 186 and 190. The property is also located between the Myakka River and the cities of North Port and Warm Mineral Springs. There is the potential to burn more than 2,500 acres of… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District will be conducting “controlled, prescribed burns” during January and February on three District sites in Pasco County. The sites are the Upper Hillsborough property, the Conner Preserve, and the Starkey property.The Upper Hillsborough property is approximately 3 miles east of Zephyrhills. The scheduled, managed burns are a part of routine maintenance of lands managed by the District. Approximately 300 acres of… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District is working with the Tampa Bay Estuary Program to determine the potential environmental impact of mucky sediments in the Safety Harbor area of Old Tampa Bay.The Safety Harbor watershed, located within Pinellas County, has changed significantly over the past 100 years. The watershed has gone from being primarily rural to primarily urban. In addition, the construction of the Lake Tarpon Outfall Canal increased the size of the… Read more

The "Southwest Florida Water Management District(Southwest Florida Water Management District)":/ is gathering input needed to improve identification of flooding risks in the Gamble Creek watershed.The District is serving as a cooperating technical partner for the "Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)(Federal Emergency Management Agency)":http://www.fema.gov on its national effort to "update and modernize the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs)(Federal Flood Map… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District will be removing vegetation near a portion of the "Flatwoods Park Trail":http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/recreation/areas/lh-flatwoods.html starting Dec. 11.The work, which involves some tree removal, is required to put the Lower Hillsborough Levee in compliance with requirements of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Failure to meet the requirements would mean a loss of possible federal funding in an emergency.Vegetation… Read more

The public is invited to share ideas concerning potential water resources restoration projects at the upcoming Hernando County Task Force meeting.The meeting is Tuesday, July 7, 3:30 p.m. in Conference Rooms A & B of the Southwest Florida Water Management District Headquarters, 2379 Broad Street, Brooksville.During the meeting the task force will be considering potential restoration projects to enhance fish and wildlife habitats in Hernando County. Examples of… Read more

At its August 6 meeting, the Southwest "Southwest Florida Water Management District's(Southwest Florida Water Management District)":http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us Peace River Basin Board adopted a fiscal year 2011 (FY2011) millage rate of 0.1827 mill, which is the same as the current fiscal year. The "Peace River Basin Board(Peace River Basin Board)":/about/basinboards/peace.php area includes Hardee, DeSoto and portions of Polk, Highlands and Charlotte counties.This millage… Read more