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Top: Students show off their “Water Cycle in a Bag” projects. Above: Toi Basso, District senior administrative assistant, and Patty Williams, District senior revenue compliance coordinator, sign up students for a water conservation pledge at the Earth Day Expo at Challenger K–8 School of Science and Mathematics. In April, District volunteers fanned out across the region, from kindergarten classes to college campuses and from community festivals to corporate… Read more

At its August 18 meeting, the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Manasota Basin Board adopted a fiscal year 2005 (FY2005) millage rate of 0.160 mill, which is the same as the current fiscal year.The budget forFY2005 is $14,376,009, which represents an increase of $3,516,099 from the approvedFY2004 budget. The increase in the budget is primarily due to additional state funding for the Facilitating Agricultural Resource Management Systems (FARMS) program and… Read more

A Southwest Florida Water Management District project will help a Manatee County citrus grove and sod farm reduce groundwater pumping.The project involves the use of an integrated irrigation system at W.F.A. Land Company, Inc., located on the north fork of the Manatee River. Manatee County is part of a designated water use caution area because it is experiencing environmental impacts due to decades of groundwater over pumping. This project borders the eastern boundary of… Read more

Elementary students at Lincoln Avenue Academy in Polk County painted rain barrels as part of their mini-grant. The barrels were then provided to school families and members of the community. Educators interested in securing a Splash! mini-grant for the 2008–2009 school year are invited to apply online on the District’s web site at WaterMatters.org/Education… Read more

A new law signed by Gov. Charlie Crist promotes the installation of Florida-friendly landscaping. The law states that homeowners associations (HOAs) may not prohibit a homeowner from applying Florida-friendly landscaping to their property or create any requirement or limitation in conflict with state law.Florida-friendly landscaping emphasizes nine easy-to-accomplish principles that, when practiced, can have a significant positive impact on yards and the environment. The… Read more

For three decades, District staff have managed hundreds of projects that provided water quality improvement for surface water bodies and restored thousands of acres of habitats through the SWIM program. The Surface Water Improvement and Management Program was created by the Florida Legislature in 1987 to protect, restore and maintain Florida’s… Read more

DeSoto County will receive a $3,000 grant from the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s 2006 Community Education Grant Program.DeSoto County was awarded the funds for Water Education Day. This public event will focus on the personal connection of 10,400 low socio-economic DeSoto County residents to the watershed. Participants will be asked about their current knowledge before attending an informal talk about the Peace River watershed and a native plant… Read more

 A District-funded project to construct the largest man-made groundwater recharge wetland in the world will benefit the aquifer in Pasco County.The Central Pasco Beneficial Water Reuse Project will provide a daily average of 5 million gallons of Pasco County’s highly-treated reclaimed water back to the aquifer through the natural percolation process. The project is a partnership between the District and the County, which shared about $14 million in funding, and the… Read more

The Southwest Florida Management District and the City of Belleair Bluffs are working together on a project that will improve stormwater drainage within the Belleair Bluffs watershed.The project will also upgrade the stormwater system by adding storm piping and constructing roadway curbs and curb inlets to control stormwater runoff.It also involves installing a Continuous Deflective Separation (CDS) unit to remove sediments and pollutants, which will improve the water… Read more

About 20 Eckerd College students recently got an up-close look at one of the structures that helps protect the Tampa area from flooding. The students toured Structure 161 on the Harney Canal. They also met with several District staff about water management issues. The visit was part of the Eckerd course “Value of Florida Water.”  “The four-week course explores all issues pertaining to water,” said Megan Cook, course instructor. “This is a great opportunity for… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District is inviting the public to come out for a special event focusing on the Brooker Creek watershed on Saturday, Oct. 16 at the Target in the Shoppes at Boot Ranch. The event takes place from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.This event allows kids of all ages to learn about water through hands-on activities that focus on the importance of protecting the Brooker Creek watershed. This event is part of Watershed Wonders Week, a grass roots campaign… Read more

Most of the Tampa Bay area will see temperatures near freezing tonight through Friday night. 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 at night and leave the pumps off until the temperatures warm up each morning.During a freeze or near freezing temperatures, farmers pump additional water from their wells to protect their crops, causing aquifer levels to drop… Read more

Emergency Operations Center at Level 2 activation Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) officials are monitoring Tropical Storm Elsa and have raised the activation level of the District’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to Level 2 as of 10 a.m. July 4, 2021. The EOC provides direction regarding District activities before, during and after an emergency event. The District is continuing to monitor potential impacts from the storm that… Read more

Eight Pinellas County projects that have the potential to reach approximately 298,800 people were awarded Community Education Grants from the Southwest Florida Water Management District. 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 32 grants Districtwide. This is the 12th year Community Education Grants have been available.The overall goal of the Community… Read more

At its June 11 meeting, the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Manasota Basin Board adopted a proposed fiscal year 2009 (FY2009) millage rate of 0.1484 mill, which is the same as the current fiscal year. The Manasota Basin Board area includes Manatee and Sarasota counties.This millage rate, combined with a reduction in taxable property values as estimated by the county property appraisers, will result in an estimated 14 percent decrease in ad valorem… Read more

The "Southwest Florida Water Management District(Southwest Florida Water Management District)":/ is inviting the public to comment on proposed "minimum flows and levels(Minimum Flows and Levels)":/mfl (MFLs) for the Homosassa River and associated springs at a public workshop on Wednesday, Oct. 13. The workshop will be held from 6:30 to approximately 9 p.m. at the Homosassa Civic Club, 5530 S. Mason Creek Road in Homosassa.The state Legislature requires the District to set… Read more

The "Southwest Florida Water Management District(Southwest Florida Water Management District)":/ is inviting the public to comment on proposed "minimum flows and levels(Minimum Flows and Levels)":/mfl (MFLs) for the Chassahowitzka River at a public workshop on Wednesday, Oct. 6. The workshop will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at the "District's headquarters(Google map)":http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=2379+Broad+Street,+Brooksville,+FL+34604, 2379 Broad Street in… Read more

District staff, current and former board members, elected officials, friends and family gathered recently to pay tribute to three departing Governing Board members, wishing a fond farewell to Ronnie Duncan, Ron Johnson and Maggie Dominguez during a ceremony honoring them for their service on the Governing Board. “The responsibilities of this District are awesome. Sometimes the demands on staff are overwhelming. But there’s nothing that motivates us more than the… Read more

Asmita Shukla, lead hydrologic data analyst, recently received the A. Ivan Johnson Award for young professionals from the National American Water Resources Association. This award recognizes future leaders of water resources research, management and education. Shukla’s doctoral research focused on finding cost-effective ways of improving agricultural stormwater quality in the Everglades through payment for environmental services programs. Her research and her work in… Read more

The "Southwest Florida Water Management District":http://www.watermatters.org is inviting the public to comment on proposed minimum flows and levels (MFLs) for Lake Hooker in Seffner at a public meeting on Thursday, June 14.The rule development public workshop will be held at 6:30 p.m. at the District's Tampa Service Office, 7601 US Hwy 301, Tampa.The state Legislature requires the District to set "MFLs":http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/projects/mfl/ for priority water bodies… Read more