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Setting prescribed fires in controlled settings can reduce the risk of wildfires burning out of control, as many Floridians witnessed during the state’s wildfire emergency in 2017. That’s why the Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) will be conducting prescribed burns January through March on the Edward W. Chance Reserve - Gilley Creek Tract (Gilley Creek) in Manatee County.…

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 January through March at Myakka River - Deer Prairie Creek Preserve and Myakka River - Schewe Tract in Sarasota County. Myakka River - Deer Prairie Creek Preserve and Myakka River - Schewe Tract…

Setting prescribed fires in controlled settings can reduce the risk of wildfires burning out of control, as many Floridians witnessed during the state’s wildfire emergency in 2017. That’s why the Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) will be conducting prescribed burns October through December on the Prairie Shell Creek Tract in Charlotte County. Prairie Shell Creek is…

Setting prescribed fires in controlled settings can reduce the risk of wildfires burning out of control, as many Floridians witnessed during the state’s wildfire emergency in 2017. That’s why the Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) will be conducting prescribed burns October through December on the Deep Creek Preserve Tract in DeSoto County. Deep Creek Preserve is located…

Setting prescribed fires in controlled settings can reduce the risk of wildfires burning out of control, as many Floridians witnessed during the state’s wildfire emergency in 2017. That’s why the Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) will be conducting prescribed burns October through December on the Lower Hillsborough Wilderness Preserve in Hillsborough County. The Lower…

Setting prescribed fires in controlled settings can reduce the risk of wildfires burning out of control, as many Floridians witnessed during the state’s wildfire emergency in 2017. That’s why the Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) will be conducting prescribed burns October through December on the Edward W. Chance Reserve - Gilley Creek Tract (Gilley Creek) in Manatee County…

Setting prescribed fires in controlled settings can reduce the risk of wildfires burning out of control, as many Floridians witnessed during the state’s wildfire emergency in 2017. That’s why the Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) will be conducting prescribed burns July through September on the Prairie Shell Creek Tract in Charlotte County. Prairie Shell Creek is located…

Setting prescribed fires in controlled settings can reduce the risk of wildfires burning out of control, as many Floridians witnessed during the state’s wildfire emergency in 2017. That’s why the Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) will be conducting prescribed burns July through September on the Deep Creek Preserve Tract in DeSoto County. Deep Creek Preserve is located at…

Setting prescribed fires in controlled settings can reduce the risk of wildfires burning out of control, as many Floridians witnessed during the state’s wildfire emergency in 2017. That’s why the Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) will be conducting prescribed burns July through September on the Lower Hillsborough Flood Detention Area (LHFDA) in Hillsborough County. The…

Dozens of Lealman residents joined representatives from the District and Pinellas County in September to celebrate the opening of the first phase of the Joes Creek Greenway to the public. The restoration project is a cooperative effort to restore wildlife habitat and improve water quality in Joes Creek through treatment of stormwater runoff, while providing the community access to the greenway for recreation. Lealman is a small community in central Pinellas County…

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 October through December at Myakka River - Deer Prairie Creek Preserve and Myakka River - Schewe Tract in Sarasota County. Myakka River - Deer Prairie Creek Preserve and Myakka River - Schewe Tract are located west of…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) is hosting two workshops for residents who live along the North Winter Haven Chain of Lakes in Polk County. Lakefront residents of Lakes Conine, Fannie, Haines, Hamilton, Henry, Lowery, Rochelle, Smart and the Peace Creek Canal are invited to attend to learn more about the current structure operational guidelines. The workshops will take place on Thursday, Feb. 8 from 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. and Tuesday, Feb. 13 from 5:…

 Brandt Henningsen, District chief environmental scientist, center, and Dr. Kate Spencer, right, with her students from the University of London. Each winter for the past eight years, Dr. Kate Spencer, a University of London professor, has brought a group of her students to the Tampa Bay area to tour District coastal ecosystem restoration projects and the TECO Manatee Viewing Center. Spencer has been bringing student groups to Florida since 2000, and she…

Setting prescribed fires in controlled settings can reduce the risk of wildfires burning out of control, as many Floridians witnessed during the state's wildfire emergency in early spring. That's why the Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) will be conducting prescribed burns November through March 2018 at Halpata Tastanaki Preserve in Marion County. Halpata Tastanaki Preserve is located two miles east of Dunnellon and seven miles northeast of the City…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) will host career and student internship fairs to share information about the many career fields and employment opportunities at the District.The fairs will take place from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Aug. 23 at the District’s Tampa Service Office, located at 7601 U.S. Hwy. 301 N. in Tampa and Aug. 30 at the District’s Brooksville Headquarters, located at 2379 Broad Street in Brooksville.The District offers a wide variety of…

The Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) anticipated activating the Tampa Bypass Canal system Monday night in response to heavy rains in the Tampa Bay area from Hurricane Hermine, however, the Hillsborough River has not reached an elevation of 25 feet above sea level, which triggers the Army Corps of Engineers activation level of the Lower Hillsborough Flood Detention (LHFDA) area.The Hillsborough River remains closed to boat traffic, east of the I-75…

The Land Management Section of the Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) will be conducting prescribed burns during the next 12 months within the Green Swamp. This includes the following properties: Green Swamp East, Green Swamp West, Hampton and Upper Hillsborough. These properties are located in eastern Pasco, southeastern Sumter, southwestern Lake and northern Polk counties. Approximately 20,000 acres will be prescription burned in manageable units by…

District Accepting Applications for Community Education Grants Community members who want to make a positive impact on the water resources in their area may apply online for a District Community Education Grant. Funded by the District’s Basin Boards, the program is intended to motivate communities to get involved in watershed protection through various educational activities. These grants offer up to $5,000 to help fund projects that provide…

Basin Board Members Appointed Governor Charlie Crist recently appointed new members to the Pinellas-Anclote River, Withlacoochee River and Peace River basin boards. Roland Dove and Janet Hoppe were appointed to the Pinellas-Anclote River Basin Board. Dove, from New Port Richey in Pasco County, succeeded Mitch Hammer. Hoppe, from Indian Shores in Pinellas County, succeeded Chet Renfro. Burton Eno and Alan Grubman were appointed to the Withlacoochee River Basin Board…

WFLA-TV meteorologist Brooks Garner interviews Rebecca Valone, project manager for the Tampa Port Authority, about McKay Bay. When the District’s Surface Water Improvement and Management (SWIM) Program began looking into the possibility of restoring the 56-acre McKay Bay Dredge Hole, there was only one problem. The project would need enough clean fill material to fill two football stadiums. However, as SWIM staff began talking to the program’s local partners,…