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The Southwest Florida Water Management District will hold aPublic Meeting for Pending Permit Applications on Aug. 5, 9 a.m., at the District’s Tampa Service Office.The monthly meetings will afford the public an opportunity to comment on pending permits prior to a final decision being made by the District.The…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) has temporarily closed the Brogden Bridge at Turner Camp Road and Wysong-Coogler airboat slides in Citrus County due to safety concerns associated with high water levels. Attempts to use the slides in current conditions could damage airboats or injure passengers. Staff will continue to monitor conditions and will reopen the slides as soon as practical. The District operates one additional airboat slide in…

She couldn’t help it; volunteering is in her blood. In the summer of 2000, Heidi McCree had entered a new phase in her life. She resigned from her position as executive director of the Hillsborough River Greenways Task Force, wanting to devote more time to her family and her newly adopted son, Alexander. Then came the call from the Governor’s Office. “Have you ever thought about being a Governing Board member?” “There was something within me … I just had to be…

 Left: Jim W. Veal, Sr., George L. Buhmeyer and Phyllis Hanson-Moffitt unveiled the plaque that recognizes Evan A. “Billy” Merritt, David C. Hanson and the other Lake Panasoffkee Restoration Council members. Right: Attendees set off on a lake tour following the ceremony. District Board members and staff, as well as members of the Lake Panasoffkee Restoration Council, recently celebrated the completion of a ten-year project to restore Lake Panasoffkee. The…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District is inviting the public to comment on revised "minimum flows for the Chassahowitzka and Homosassa river systems":http://www.WaterMatters.org/SpringsCoastMFL/ at a public workshop on Tuesday, Oct. 2. The workshop will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Lecanto Government Building, 3600 W. Sovereign Path, Room 166, Lecanto.The state Legislature requires the District to set minimum flows and levels (MFLs) for priority water…

District prepares for Hurricane FrancesBoat Lock at Wysong-Coogler Structure on Withlacoochee River ClosedIn preparation for Hurricane Frances, the Southwest Florida Water Management District is closing the boat ramp on the Wysong-Coogler Adjustable Water Conservation Structure (AWCS).The boat ramp on the Withlacoochee River will be temporarily closed to navigation Saturday, Sept. 4 and Sunday, Sept. 5 due to the storm. The closure may extend through Monday, depending on…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District will be conducting “controlled, prescribed burns” during June, July and August on the District’s Upper Hillsborough property in Pasco and Polk counties.The Upper Hillsborough property is approximately 2 miles east of Zephyrhills. The scheduled, managed burns are a part of routine maintenance of lands managed by the District. Approximately 300 acres of land will be burned in small, manageable units.According…

Who: Willis Peters Exceptional Center teachers and studentsWhat: A grand opening to celebrate the completion of an outdoor classroom garden, which features a butterfly garden as well as a hydroponic container garden.When: Friday, April 24, 11 a.m.Where: Willis Peters Exceptional Center, 3035 Nelson Ave., DoverWhy: The students spent eight months learning about water conservation and hydroponic container gardening. The garden enables all students with disabilities a unique…

District's Cooperative Funding Initiative to Continue In order to increase efficiency of operations and reduce costs, the Southwest Florida Water Management District's Governing Board approved a resolution today to merge the budgets of the District's eight Basin Boards into the Governing Board, while keeping a reduced Cooperative Funding Initiative to fund regional projects. The District's eight Basin Boards provided guidance for local programs and projects that were…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District will be conducting “controlled, prescribed burns” during the rest of November and throughout December and January at a section of the District’s Lower Hillsborough Flood Detention Area, which includes Flatwoods Park and the Oak Ridge Equestrian area.The property is located off Bruce B. Downs Boulevard in the New Tampa area. Approximately 500 acres of land will be burned in small, manageable units.The…

_More than 272,000 acres of dense seagrass digitally mapped_The Southwest Florida Water Management District recently completed a seagrass mapping project to monitor the long-term health of seagrass beds along the Springs Coast. The project involved digitally mapping more than 525,000 acres of submerged land from the mouth of the Anclote River near Tarpon Springs to the mouth of the Withlacoochee River. Seagrass generally grows in waters less than 14 feet deep and is an…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District will be conducting “controlled, prescribed burns” during December on the District’s Halpata Tastanaki Preserve. The property is approximately six miles east of Dunnellon. The scheduled, managed burns are a part of routine maintenance of lands managed by the District. Approximately 1,000 acres of land will be burned in small, manageable units.According to District Land Manager Kevin W. Love, burns are…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District will be conducting “controlled, prescribed burns” during July and August on the District’s Weekiwachee Preserve. The property is approximately one mile west of Spring Hill. The scheduled, managed burns are a part of routine maintenance of lands managed by the District. Approximately 400 acres of land will be burned in small, manageable units.According to District Land Manager Kevin W. Love, burns are…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District's (District) Governing Board voted to decrease property taxes by adopting a proposed rolled-back millage rate of 0.2801 mill for the proposed fiscal year 2020 budget. The millage rate is more than 5.2 percent lower than the current fiscal year adopted millage rate of 0.2955 mill, a savings to taxpayers of approximately $6.5 million. For the owner of a $150,000 home with a $50,000 homestead exemption, the…

The Governing Board of the Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) adopted a proposed FY2016-17 millage rate of 0.3317 mill, 4.9 percent lower than the current fiscal year. For the owner of a $150,000 home with a $50,000 homestead exemption, the District tax would be $33 a year, or about $2.76 per month. The fiscal year runs from Oct. 1, 2016, through Sept. 30, 2017. The total FY2016-17 proposed budget for the District is $180.1 million.The budget reflects the…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District will be conducting “controlled, prescribed burns” during October on the District’s Weekiwachee Preserve. The property is approximately one mile west of Spring Hill. The scheduled, managed burns are a part of routine maintenance of lands managed by the District. Approximately 200 acres of land will be burned in small, manageable units.According to District Land Manager Kevin W. Love, burns are implemented to…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District will be conducting “controlled, prescribed burns” during July and August on the District’s Weekiwachee Preserve. The property is approximately one mile west of Spring Hill. The scheduled, managed burns are a part of routine maintenance of lands managed by the District. Approximately 300 acres of land will be burned in small, manageable units.According to District Land Manager Kevin W. Love, burns are implemented to mimic…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District is inviting residents who live near Lake Hancock to an open house concerning the Lake Hancock Lake Level Modification Project. The open house is being held Tuesday, Aug. 21, at the District’s Bartow Service Office from 3 until 7 p.m.Residents who own property within the Lake Hancock area that may be impacted if the project is implemented are encouraged to attend so they can discuss the project with District staff.The Lake…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District will be conducting “controlled, prescribed burns” during March on the District’s Weekiwachee Preserve. The property is approximately one mile west of Spring Hill. The scheduled, managed burns are a part of routine maintenance of lands managed by the District. Approximately 300 acres of land will be burned in small, manageable units.According to District Land Manager Kevin W. Love, burns are implemented to…

A five-year project funded by the Southwest Florida Management District and Hillsborough County will help predict flooding and water quality problems through updating the county’s topographical maps.This aerial mapping project, which is in its final phase, is providing detailed topographic maps that show the area’s physical features. From these maps, floodplain boundaries and watersheds may be determined to help predict future flooding and water quality problems…