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The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board will hold its monthly meeting Tuesday, Aug. 27 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…

Florida residents experienced the catastrophic effects when the Panhandle was struck by Hurricane Michael in October 2018. Observing the preparation and devastation from that devastating storm was an eye-opening experience for many District staff members. It’s a lesson they’ll take into this hurricane season, which started June 1 and runs through November. Hurricane Michael is the most powerful storm to ever impact the Panhandle Region, making landfall as a…

Setting prescribed fires in controlled settings can reduce the risk of wildfires burning out of control. That’s why the Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) will be conducting prescribed burns now through September on the Prairie Shell Creek Tract in Charlotte County.Prairie Shell Creek is located at 3081 Duncan Road (U.S. Highway 17) in Punta Gorda. Approximately 300 acres will be burned in small, manageable units.Some major benefits of…

Setting prescribed fires in controlled settings can reduce the risk of wildfires burning out of control. That’s why the Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) will be conducting prescribed burns now through September on the Deep Creek Preserve in DeSoto County.Deep Creek Preserve is located at 10797 Peace River Street in Arcadia, east of State Road 769. Approximately 500 acres will be burned in small, manageable units.Some major benefits of…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) will hold a series of virtual meetings to discuss the District’s Land Management Plans. The purpose of these meetings is to inform the public about updates to these plans, to solicit input from stakeholders and to incorporate feedback from the public and stakeholders into the development of the new 10-year plans. The District adopts land management plans to ensure its public conservation lands are being…

Restoration Project Gives Site A New Look Looking at the 15 acres of restored habitat to the west of the Northside Christian School athletic fields in Pinellas County, one would never know the area was once used as a mining borrow pit and a construction dumpsite. The Joes Creek Habitat Restoration Project, a cooperative effort between Pinellas County and the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Surface Water Improvement and Management (SWIM) program, wiped…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District's Governing Board will hold its monthly meeting on Tuesday, June 27 at 9 a.m. at District Headquarters, located at 2379 Broad Street in Brooksville. To view the Governing Board meeting online, visit Watermatters.org and click on the "Live Video Stream" link. The video stream link becomes active and the live video feed begins approximately 15 minutes before the scheduled meeting time.The meeting agenda and meeting materials are…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District's Governing Board will hold its monthly meeting on Tuesday, May 23 at 9 a.m. at District Headquarters, located at 2379 Broad Street in Brooksville. To view the Governing Board meeting online, visit Watermatters.org and click on the "Live Video Stream" link. The video stream link becomes active and the live video feed begins approximately 15 minutes before the scheduled meeting time.The meeting agenda and meeting materials are…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District's Governing Board will hold its monthly meeting on Tuesday, March 28 at 9 a.m. at District Headquarters, located at 2379 Broad Street in Brooksville. To view the Governing Board meeting online, visit Watermatters.org and click on the "Live Video Stream" link. The video stream link becomes active and the live video feed begins approximately 15 minutes before the scheduled meeting time.The meeting agenda and meeting materials are…

Gov. Jeb Bush recently reappointed several members to five of the eight Basin Boards of the Southwest Florida Water Management District. The governor also appointed several new Basin Board members.Alafia River Basin Board:James D. Selvey of Brandon was reappointed to the Alafia River Basin Board. He is a real estate broker and the owner of Exit Realty Consultants. Selvey joined the Board March 1, 2002. This term began June 1, 2005 and ends March 1, 2008.Jean C. Tort of…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District's Governing Board will hold its monthly meeting on Tuesday, June 28 at 9 a.m. at District Headquarters, located at 2379 Broad Street in Brooksville. To view the Governing Board meeting online, visit Watermatters.org and click on the "Live Video Stream" link. The video stream link becomes active and the live video feed begins approximately 15 minutes before the scheduled meeting time.The meeting agenda and meeting materials are…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District's Governing Board will hold its monthly meeting on Tuesday, May 24, at the Tampa Service Office, located at 7601 U.S. Highway 301 North. To view the Governing Board meeting online, visit Watermatters.org and click on the "Live Video Stream" link. The video stream link becomes active and the live video feed begins approximately 15 minutes before the scheduled meeting time.The meeting agenda and meeting materials are posted one…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District's Governing Board will hold its monthly meeting on Tuesday, February 23 at 9 a.m. at the District's Sarasota Service Office, located at 6750 Fruitville Road. To view the Governing Board meeting online, visit Watermatters.org and click on the "Live Video Stream" link. The video stream link becomes active and the live video feed begins approximately 15 minutes before the scheduled meeting time.The meeting agenda and meeting…

Whether they were operating structures, providing needed equipment or talking to citizens, staff members were busy the past month responding to the record rainfall received in parts of the District. The rain event affected nearly every department at the District. The record rain that occurred from July 26 to Aug. 7 had many employees working around the clock. And nearly daily rainfall in some parts of the District has continued to keep staff busy.  Robert…

Members of the Withlacoochee River Basin Board and the Lake Panasoffkee Restoration Council recently surveyed the progress of the four-step, multimillion dollar Lake Panasoffkee restoration project. The Lake Panasoffkee restoration project involves dredging approximately 8.2 million cubic yards of sediment from the lake, which will improve fish habitat, restore the historic lake shoreline and improve navigation. The project will also restore approximately 920 acres of…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board will hold its monthly meeting Tuesday, June 25 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 Southwest Florida Water Management District is gathering input to improve the identification of flooding risks in the Braden River watershed in Manatee 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 outdated because of natural and physical changes caused by…

A media alert issued this morning by Hillsborough County Fire Rescue regarding smoke in northern Hillsborough County contained incorrect information. The Southwest Florida Water Management District has not conducted any controlled burns in two months due to the current drought conditions.A 118-acre wildfire started on Saturday in the District’s Conner Preserve near Ehren Cutoff in Pasco County. The fire is contained and under the authority of the Florida Division of…

The Coleman's Landing boat ramp on the east side of Lake Panasoffkee will reopen to the public on Saturday, July 15. The Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) in cooperation with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has completed an aquatic plant removal project which required the temporary closure of the boat ramp.Aquatic plants were harvested to create boat access trails across the lake through areas of dense vegetation. For more…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District will be conducting “controlled, prescribed burns” during the months of June, July and August for two District sites in Sarasota County — the Schewe Ranch and the Deer Prairie Creek properties.Both tracts are located to the north and south of I-75 between mile markers 186 and 190, with U.S. Hwy. 41 as its far southern boundary. The property is also located between the Myakka River and the cities of North Port…