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The Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) will host a career and internship fair to share information about the many career fields and employment opportunities at the District.The fair will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Aug. 22 at the District’s Sarasota Service Office, located at 78 Sarasota Center Blvd. in Sarasota.The District offers a wide variety of careers and student internships, including administrative, business, accounting, finance, maintenance…

Gov. Jeb Bush recently reappointed William Bunch and appointed Samuel Lyons to the Coastal Rivers Basin Board of the Southwest Florida Water Management District. The Coastal Rivers Basin Board represents portions of Pasco, Hernando, and Citrus Counties.William Bunch lives in Crystal River and owns Oysters Restaurant. He joined the basin board March 2, 2002 when he succeeded Margaret West. Mr. Bunch’s current term began August 3 and ends March 1, 2008.Samuel Lyons is…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) is prohibiting campfires and other sources of open flames on District conservation lands in conjunction with numerous county burn bans and dry conditions. Lack of rainfall this spring has made grasses and other light vegetation extremely dry and volatile, increasing the potential for wildfires. Burning is thereby prohibited on these District properties with camping until sufficient rains occur and county burn bans…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board will hold its monthly meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 16 at the District’s headquarters, located at 2379 Broad Street in Brooksville.The meeting will begin at 9 a.m.The Governing Board will discuss merging the Hillsborough River and the Northwest Hillsborough Basin Boards at the meeting.The Governing Board typically meets on the last Tuesday of the month. This month the meeting is being held two weeks…

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 Saturday, Aug. 3, at 11 a.m., in anticipation of impacts from Potential Tropical Cyclone 4.Additionally, the District is in the process of canceling all existing camping reservations through Tuesday, Aug. 6.For the most updated information, please visit the District’s website at …

The Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) will close all campgrounds throughout its 16-county region to help reduce the spread of the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19. Beginning Wednesday, March 18, at 1 p.m., all District campgrounds and campsites will be closed for 30 days. Recreational day use activities will still be allowed at this time. The health of our staff and stakeholders is our main priority. Call 1-800-423-1476 or visit …

The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s (District) Sarasota Service Office (SSO) will relocate to a new facility effective Monday, March 9. To facilitate this move, the SSO will be temporarily closed to the public Friday, March 6. Normal office hours will resume Monday, March 9 at the new location. The address of the new SSO is 78 Sarasota Center Blvd. in Sarasota. All other contact information including email and phone numbers will remain the same.…

One Governing Board member returned for another term and two new members joined the District’s Governing Board in March after being appointed by Governor Jeb Bush. The newly appointed members are Sallie Parks and Maritza Rovira-Forino. Todd Pressman was reappointed. Pressman, of Palm Harbor, has served on the Governing Board since April 2005. Pressman says he is looking forward to serving a full term on the Board after getting his “feet wet” completing Ronnie…

 Jack Dangermond, ESRI president and CEO, presents Axel Griner, District senior GIS analyst, with the District’s special achievement award. The District received a special achievement award at the annual Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) International Users Conference for its vision, leadership and innovative use of geographic information system (GIS) technology. The District was selected from more than 300,000 organizations worldwide. “…

On Tuesday, May 24, Heidi B. McCree was selected by unanimous vote as the first female Governing Board chair in the 44-year history of the Southwest Florida Water Management District.“I want to thank the Board for this honor and look forward to carrying on an important legacy,” McCree said. “We have achieved great things in west-central Florida, but there are many challenges yet to face to ensure an environmentally sustainable water resource. The keys will be maintaining our…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board will hold its monthly meeting Tuesday, April 22 at 9 a.m. at District Headquarters, located at 2379 Broad Street in Brooksville. To view the Governing Board meeting online, click on the live video stream link. The video stream link becomes active and the…

The District recently restructured the Regulation Division to increase the quality of service. Resource Regulation evaluates Environmental Resource, Water Use and Well Construction permit applications and is responsible for addressing permitting compliance. Regulation Division duties include reviewing permit applications, monitoring permitted activities, enforcing District rules and permit conditions, and maintaining regulatory records for the District. The…

On the morning of Jan. 9, 2010, after six consecutive days of freezing temperatures, District Executive Director Dave Moore called Alba Más, Tampa’s regulation director, for an assessment of the Plant City/Dover area in Eastern Hillsborough County. So far, so good, with only minimal impacts reported. However, beginning on the seventh consecutive day of freezing temperatures, and entering uncharted territory, the reports began flooding in of dry wells and sinkholes…

This grid map is an example of what Reality Check participants will use during the workshop. The Tampa Bay region is about to get “real,” but we’re not talking about a new reality television series being taped in the area. Reality Check Tampa Bay is a one-day exercise designed to analyze and develop alternative growth scenarios through 2050 for our rapidly growing region. The Tampa Bay region includes Hernando, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk…

Taking a trip to one of the Sunshine State's beautiful springs soon? If so, you may see a popular “sunny” fish while you're there. Almost 40 percent of all fish found in the Rainbow River System were the Spotted Sunfish, according to a recent paper published in the scientific journal, Florida Scientist, and written by District's Kym Holzwart a senior environmental scientist with the Southwest Florida Water Management District. The District contracted with the Florida…

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 some of its springs community partners. They are:

• Alys Brockway – She organized the Hernando County Groundwater Guardian Committee since 2002. The group helps educate the public about the…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District's (District) Sarasota Office will be closed tomorrow, Friday, October 7th in conjunction with Governor Rick Scott's order to close state offices in the area due to Hurricane Matthew. Earlier today, the decision was made to close the Brooksville and Tampa offices due to anticipated sustained tropical storm force winds associated with hurricane. The decision to close the Bartow and Lake Hancock offices was made yesterday. All…

The "Southwest Florida Water Management District ":http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/ (District) is gathering information to improve identification of flood prone areas in Pasco County's Pithlachascotee River/Bear Creek watershed. Residents living in the Pithlachascotee River/Bear Creek watershed are invited to attend an open house on Tuesday, April 29, 2014 or Thursday, May 1, 2014 beginning each day at 4:00 p.m. The meetings will take place at River Ridge High School, located…

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 Monday, Aug. 28, at 3 p.m. in anticipation of impacts from Tropical Storm Idalia. Additionally, the District is in the process of cancelling all existing camping reservations through Friday, Sept. 1.For the most updated information, please visit the District’s website at …

Ted Gates takes a sixth-grade school group on a tour of Gator Sink. Ted Gates, District professional geologist, recently led Polk County’s Southwest Middle School sixth-grade teachers and students on a field trip to observe a sinkhole firsthand at Gator Sink. Gates was given the opportunity to work with the school after joining the District’s Youth Education Team. Youth Education staff formed the Youth Education Team to provide training and instruction for…