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District scientists continue to see increases in seagrass in Tampa Bay, which is an indicator of water quality. Scientists with the District’s Surface Water Improvement and Management, or SWIM program, released the results of its 2016 seagrass mapping study showing Tampa Bay now supports 41,655 acres of seagrass beds. This increase continues the success of the previous mapping efforts reported in 2015, supporting the largest amount of seagrass measured since the 1950s… Read more

Scientists with the Southwest Florida Water Management District's Surface Water Improvement and Management (SWIM) Program released the results of the 2014 seagrass mapping study showing a 5.2 percent increase in seagrass coverage in Charlotte Harbor. The District maps seagrass in five estuaries spanning the five coastal counties of Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee, Sarasota, and Charlotte. Charlotte Harbor is Florida's second largest open water estuary, and provides some of… Read more

The Governing Board charged District staff in January with initiating a public process to receive input on four strategies aimed at protecting the natural resources in the northern portion of the District due to rapid growth and development. The four strategies include expansion of the Southern Water Use Caution Area (SWUCA) per capita requirements Districtwide; expansion of the Northern Tampa Bay WUCA into northeastern Hillsborough and the remainder of Pasco counties… Read more

The Community Planning Pages reflect an effort by the District to bridge two programs, the first being the Department of Economic Opportunity requirement for local governments to complete a Ten-Year Water Supply Facilities Work Plans (Work Plans) and the second being the Department of Environmental Protection requirement for water management districts to complete a Regional Water Supply Plan. The District initiated the Community Planning Page concept to provide data… Read more

With more than 1,000 people moving to Florida every day, the Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) has developed the Water 101 campaign, a program to educate new and existing residents as well as communities about how they can help protect local water resources and save water and money.Water is a limited resource in Florida that we all play a role in protecting, which makes it important to understand your personal impact. The choices you make as a homeowner… Read more

Scientists with the "Southwest Florida Water Management District's":http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/ (District) "Surface Water Improvement and Management, or SWIM program":https://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/projects/swim/, released the results of their 2014 seagrass mapping study showing Tampa Bay now supports 40,295 acres of seagrass beds, the largest amount of seagrass measured since the 1950s. This increase in seagrass has now surpassed the recovery goal of 38,000 acres bay… Read more

Six Pinellas County projects expected to reach more than 18,000 people were awarded Community Education Grants from the "Southwest Florida Water Management District(Southwest Florida Water Management District)":http://watermatters.org. These grants offer up to $5,000 to help fund projects that provide communities an opportunity to learn about water resources. This year the District awarded "35 grants Districtwide(2010 Community Education Grant Projects)":http://www.swfwmd.… Read more

Scientists with the "Southwest Florida Water Management District's ":http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/ "Surface Water Improvement and Management (SWIM) Program":http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/projects/swim/ released the results of the 2012 seagrass mapping study showing a 4.4 percent increase in seagrass coverage in Charlotte Harbor. The District maps seagrass in five estuaries spanning the five coastal counties of Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee, Sarasota, and Charlotte.… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District is holding a public open house to gather input on future conservation land purchases.The District is evaluating properties that may be eligible for purchase under the Florida Forever Program.The public is invited to attend an open house Sept. 30, 6 to 8 p.m. at the District’s Sarasota Service Office, 6750 Fruitville Rd. in Sarasota. During the open house residents will be able to view area maps and the list of prospective… Read more

Region at highest alert level and subject to modified Phase IV water restrictionsThe Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board voted to enact Modified Phase IV (or Critical) Water Shortage restrictions for potable water use in the Tampa Bay Water service area. These are the District’s highest level of water shortage measures.The Tampa Bay Water’s six member governments include Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties as well as the… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District is holding a public open house to gather input on future conservation land purchases.The District is evaluating properties that may be eligible for purchase under the Florida Forever Program.The public is invited to attend an open house Oct. 1, 6 to 8 p.m. at the District’s Tampa Service Office, 7601 U.S. Hwy. 301 in Tampa. During the open house residents will be able to view area maps and the list of prospective… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District is holding a public open house to gather input on future conservation land purchases.The District is evaluating properties that may be eligible for purchase under the Florida Forever Program.The public is invited to attend an open house Sept. 24, 6 to 8 p.m. at the District’s Headquarters, 2379 Broad St., in Brooksville. During the open house residents will be able to view area maps and the list of prospective properties… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District is holding a public open house to gather input on future conservation land purchases.The District is evaluating properties that may be eligible for purchase under the Florida Forever Program.The public is invited to attend an open house Sept. 23, 6 to 8 p.m. at the District’s Bartow Service Office, 170 Century Blvd. in Bartow. During the open house residents will be able to view area maps and the list of prospective… Read more

In anticipation of the impacts of Hurricane Matthew, the Southwest Florida Water Management District is currently lowering several lake levels to provide for additional storage in the event the District's region receives heavy rains. In Polk County, levels are being lowered in Lakes Hancock, Arietta, Fannie, Smart and Lena. In Highlands County Lake June-in-Winter is being lowered.As a precautionary measure, the District has closed Cow House Creek, structure S-163, in… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) is offering six easy ways to prepare for your holiday meals and travels without running up your water bill.During the holidays, water plays a role in everything from preparing your food to prepping your home for time away during this festive season. Here’s how to incorporate water conservation into your holiday plans:

• Defrost frozen foods in the refrigerator or the microwave instead of running hot water…

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The Southwest Florida Water Management District has extendedthe water shortage emergency order issued Aug. 13 for the Peace River/Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority’s reservoir and two Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) wellfields to help protect the drinking water supply for more than 250,000 residents.An executive order signed Wednesday will allow the Authority to continue to… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District has extended the water shortage emergency order for the Peace River/Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority to protect the drinking water supply for more than 250,000 residents. The order is now scheduled to expire on June 25, 2008 unless it is rescinded or extended by Districts Governing Board or executive director. The order was slated to expire April 19, 2008.The executive order (… Read more

      Left: Margit Crowell, District senior hydrologist, uses GIS technology to locate residents’ property in relation to the dam flood inundation area. Right: Lesley Touchton, District emergency operations coordinator, shows a resident his property on the Medard Reservoir Dam flood map. Three sirens were recently installed downstream of the Medard Reservoir as an additional safety measure for the unlikely event of… Read more

Twenty Sumter County Advanced Placement high school students recently visited the District to learn about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) careers. Students learned how to bridge the gap between high school and a successful STEM career. The students visited four stations and learned about GIS & permitting, land management and the District’s chemistry lab. Students used computers to map and model an existing stormwater pond in… Read more

Tampa Bay has the largest amount of seagrass measured in more than 60 years, an indication the health of one of Tampa’s major water bodies continues to improve. Scientists with the District’s Surface Water Improvement and Management, or SWIM program, released the results of their 2014 seagrass mapping study showing Tampa Bay now supports 40,295 acres of seagrass beds. Those are levels not seen in Tampa Bay since the 1950s. This increase in seagrass has now… Read more