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The Southwest Florida Water Management District's Aquifer Resource Weekly Update provides information to the public about the health of the water resources.Aquifers are underground layers of rock and sand that hold water. In southwest Florida, more than 80 percent of the water supply comes from aquifers.The Aquifer Resource Weekly Update contains two sections: Aquifer Levels and Rainfall. Levels and rainfall are provided for three regions: north (Citrus, Hernando, Lake, Levy…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District's Aquifer Resource Weekly Update provides information to the public about the health of the water resources.Aquifers are underground layers of rock and sand that hold water. In southwest Florida, more than 80 percent of the water supply comes from aquifers.The Aquifer Resource Weekly Update contains two sections: Aquifer Levels and Rainfall. Levels and rainfall are provided for three regions: north (Citrus, Hernando, Lake, Levy…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District's Aquifer Resource Weekly Update provides information to the public about the health of the water resources.Aquifers are underground layers of rock and sand that hold water. In southwest Florida, more than 80 percent of the water supply comes from aquifers.The Aquifer Resource Weekly Update contains two sections: Aquifer Levels and Rainfall. Levels and rainfall are provided for three regions: north (Citrus, Hernando, Lake, Levy…

Ronald E. Oakley was elected today by his peers to serve as Governing Board chair of the "Southwest Florida Water Management District(Southwest Florida Water Management District)":http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us.Other "Governing Board(Governing Board)":/about/governingboard officers selected today include Hugh M. Gramling, vice chair; H. Paul Senft Jr., secretary, and Douglas B. Tharp, treasurer."Chair Ronald E. Oakley(Ronald E. Oakley)":/about/governingboard/profiles/…

Whether your favorite outdoor activity is camping, kayaking, hiking or horseback riding, the District has the place for you to get outside and do your thing. The District owns a variety of properties that include more than 343,000 acres of land open for public recreation. And while about 2.5 million people visit these properties each year, many people don’t realize these recreational opportunities are located just minutes from their homes. That’s why WaterMatters…

The "Southwest Florida Water Management District(Southwest Florida Water Management District)":/ is gathering input needed to improve identification of flooding risks in the areas surrounding 17 lakes in Highlands County.The District is serving as a cooperating technical partner for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on its national effort to update and modernize the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs). Most of the current FIRMs are 10 to 30 years old and are…

Governor Rick Scott appointed two new board members to the District’s Governing Board and also re-appointed a board member. Mark Taylor and Michelle Williamson were appointed to the board. Taylor represents Hernando and Marion counties and Williamson represents Hillsborough County. Taylor, 57, of Brooksville, is the president of TTG Properties Inc. Taylor received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida. He is appointed for a term from Aug. 26, 2016…

The Governing Board declared April Springs Protection Awareness Month at today’s Governing Board meeting. The move is part of the District’s ongoing effort to restore and protect area springs and encourage community involvement.  The Governing Board also recognized the Springs Coast Steering Committee, which is made up of members of local, regional and state agencies. One of their main goals is to develop management plans tailored for each spring system to identify…

Long Distance Assistance As of Friday morning, August 13, Hurricane Charley was still projected to strike the Tampa Bay area. That’s when Garry Flood’s supervisor, Dale Ravencraft, asked him to travel to Tallahassee and serve in Florida’s State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC). “I had to leave my wife and two teenage kids here in order to help out,” said Flood. “It was a hard situation, but I just had to pray that they would be safe while I went to help other…

Clearwater Mayor Frank Hibbard calls it “another gem in the crown of Clearwater,” but Kapok Park wasn’t always a beautiful public green space, home to roseate spoonbills, wood storks, sandpipers and many other shorebirds. In December, Representative Gus Bilirakis joined members of the District’s Governing and Pinellas-Anclote River Basin boards, along with the Clearwater mayor and several city staff members, in celebrating the completion of a $19.3 million floodplain…

John Parker (left), his wife Leslie, daughters Melissa and Jessica, and son-in-law Dylan Nugent gather near “Other Man Lake” in Quetico Provincial Park. Sadness spread across the District’s Brooksville Headquarters as coworkers learned about John Parker’s death in a car accident in May. “When you spend more than 20 years working with someone on projects that define your life, and when you share in a common goal, you have a bond, even if you didn’t hang out…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) will close all District-managed campgrounds and properties to include trails and day use areas throughout its 16-county region Nov. 9, at 3 p.m. in anticipation of impacts from Tropical Storm Nicole. For the most updated information, please visit the District’s website at…

Above left: This series of pictures shows the dredging machine, the pipe through the lake that carried dredged material to the spoil site and the spoil site. Above right: Anglers enjoy Lake Panasoffkee. The recently completed Lake Panasoffkee restoration project is being hailed as a huge success by Lake Panasoffkee residents and anglers. The $26.9 million, ten-year project restored Lake Panasoffkee’s historic fish bedding areas and lake shoreline by removing…

Just northeast of the Lake Manatee Reservoir in Manatee County, undisturbed areas of native habitats provide an example of historic Florida palmetto prairie, pine flatwoods and scrubby flatwoods communities. The District’s Gilley Creek Tract, part of the Edward W. Chance Reserve, gives Manatee County residents an opportunity to see Florida the way it used to be. “We have a very good example of an old historic Florida ecosystem at the Gilley Creek property,” said…

Chassahowitzka Property Offers Much to Do at an Outstanding Waterway Camping, hiking, boating, freshwater and saltwater fishing; a full range of outdoor activities are available at the District’s Chassahowitzka River and Coastal Swamps property in southwestern Citrus County. Purchased in the early 1990s, the…

FY2012 Budget Is 44.4 Percent Below FY2011 Levels The District’s Governing Board adopted a FY2012 millage rate of 0.3928 mill and a budget of $155.5 million at its September final budget hearing. The millage rate and budget take into account the merger of the budgets of the District’s eight Basin Boards into the Governing Board and the $107.8 million cap on ad valorem property taxes levied, which was passed by the Florida Legislature. This millage rate, combined…

Description: There is a place in the middle of the state, far from either coast, where people can go to experience the unaltered natural beauty of central Florida. The 51,000-acre East Tract of the Green Swamp Wilderness Preserve offers visitors the ability to hike, hunt, bike, camp or fish in a rare wilderness full of local flora and fauna. The Green Swamp East Tract, which stretches across Sumter, Lake, and Polk counties, contains a variety of habitat types —…

The "Southwest Florida Water Management District":http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/ (District) is gathering information to improve identification of flood prone areas in Sumter County's Gant Lake watershed. Most of the currently available floodplain information is 10 to 30 years old and is outdated because of natural and physical changes caused by land use, development and erosion.Residents living in the Gant Lake watershed are invited to attend an open house on Wednesday,…

The "Southwest Florida Water Management District ":http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/ (District) is gathering information to improve identification of flood prone areas in Polk County's Mulberry watershed. Most of the currently available floodplain information is 10 to 30 years old and is outdated because of natural and physical changes caused by land use, development and erosion.Residents living in the Mulberry watershed are invited to attend an open house on Tuesday, January…

The "Southwest Florida Water Management District ":http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/ (District) is gathering information to improve identification of flood prone areas in Sumter County's Big Prairie watershed. Most of the currently available floodplain information is 10 to 30 years old and is outdated because of natural and physical changes caused by land use, development and erosion.Residents living in the Big Prairie watershed are invited to attend an open house on Thursday,…