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On Wednesday, the Legislative Budget Commission approved the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's (DEP) proposed $69 million in springs projects leveraged by the $30 million Governor Scott secured in the "It's Your Money Tax Cut Budget" to bring the total invested in springs projects to more than $100 million in the last two years. Four springs in the Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) will see the benefit of this project plan, including…

Charlotte County Utilities residential customers are now eligible to participate in a toilet rebate program aimed at conserving water.The toilet rebate program, which is cooperatively funded by the county and the Southwest Florida Water Management District's Peace River Basin Board, offers rebates to replace high-volume toilets with water-efficient, low-flow toilets or high-efficiency toilets. Low-flow toilets use 1.6 gallons per flush or less while high-efficiency toilets…

The City of Wildwood in Sumter Counter is known as “the crossroads of Florida” for its central location near several major roadways in the state. Now, it can also add the distinction of tastiest tap water in West Central Florida. The city’s water department won the annual Best Tasting Drinking Water Contest for Florida Section Region 4 of the American Water Works Association. Mandi Rice, the District’s assistant executive director was one of the judges for Region 4…

Innovative ways to test and track water were the themes of this year’s student winners of the District’s Water Matters! Awards. The District recently awarded three students with the Water Matters! Award for their work at the Pasco County Science and Engineering Showcase. This is the second year the District has given the award, which was developed in partnership with Pasco County School District. The award recognizes notable projects relating to the mission of protecting…

Pat Glass, a former Manatee County commissioner, presents David Moore, District executive director, with a plaque recognizing the District’s role in the Manatee Agricultural Reuse System project. A recently completed project is providing reclaimed water to the Manatee County agricultural community, as well as residential and recreational customers. The concept for the Manatee Agricultural Reuse System (MARS) project, which was dedicated in February, began in…

Educators interested in securing grant funding for classroom projects that focus on water quality, natural systems, water conservation, alternative water sources, flood protection or watersheds are encouraged to apply for a Splash! mini-grant through the Southwest Florida Water Management District.The goal of the mini-grant program is to promote hands-on water resources education that teaches students about their local watersheds and the water resources within them. Splash…

A project funded by the Southwest Florida Water Management District and the Englewood Water District will bring reclaimed water to the 73 homes in Englewoods Park Forest subdivision.The project includes the design and construction of more than 3,800 linear feet of reclaimed water transmission lines.This project is expected to provide approximately 43,800 gallons per day (gpd) of reclaimed water to meet the current demands of the residential customers, which will offset…

A cooperatively funded program between the Southwest Florida Water Management District and the City of North Port will identify what is causing degraded water quality in the region. The information gathered by the program will be used to develop a water quality improvement plan.The North Port Water Enhancement Program consists of a study that includes water sampling, data collection and analysis.During the course of a year, monthly water samples will be taken from…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District and Pasco County recently signed an agreement to work together on a project that will maximize the use of reclaimed water resources in the county.The Pasco County Wet Weather Reclaimed Water Reservoir project involves constructing a reservoir on 35 acres next to the Land O’ Lakes wastewater treatment facility. The reservoir will be built to store up to 100 million gallons of reclaimed water from the facility.Reclaimed…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District is working with the City of Lakeland on a project that will improve water quality in Lake Hollingsworth.The Lake Hollingsworth Westside Stormwater Treatment project consists of the construction of four stormwater treatment wetlands on the west side of the lake. This project builds upon improvements made to the lake by three previous cooperative funding projects a sediment-dredging project, a whole-lake alum application…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District and the City of Inverness recently signed an agreement for a project that will save 700,000 gallons of water per day (gpd).This project will allow the Inverness Golf and Country Club to reduce its dependence on potable water sources for irrigation at its golf course and give the city the ability to provide reclaimed water, through existing piping, to the Citrus County Holden Park athletic fields to reduce its use of groundwater…

The "Southwest Florida Water Management District":http://www.watermatters.org continues to maintain its commitment to provide key services to the agricultural community despite organization changes and staff reductions. The economic downturn, reduced property values and other constraints have led to significant budget cuts, staff reductions and re-evaluation of priorities at the District in 2012.Facing new budget realities, the District's Governing Board directed staff to…