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_First test this Saturday, Oct. 3 at noon_The Southwest Florida Water Management District will begin monthly audible testing on Saturday, Oct. 3 of three sirens installed near the Edward Medard Park reservoir in southeast Hillsborough County.The audible testing will continue to occur the first Saturday of each month at noon to ensure these sirens perform properly. During testing, the sirens will sound for about 15 seconds and are expected to reach a two-mile radius.The… Read more

Southwest Florida Water Management District land managers plan to hold a series of hog hunts on District land this fall and winter to help reduce the wild hog population.Beginning at 9 a.m. on Oct. 12, prospective hunters can purchase permits for these hunts on the District’s web site at WaterMatters.org/hoghunts/. Permits will be available on a first-come, first-… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District will hold a Preliminary Evaluation CommitteeMeeting on Tuesday, December 19, at 12:00 p.m. (local time) to evaluate responses to RFP 24-4534Physical Risk Assessment. The committee members will discuss their review of the responses and mayselect a firm to award, select firms to be shortlisted for further evaluation, or reject all responses.

Who: Southwest Florida Water Management District Governing and Basin Board members and staff, hundreds of volunteersWhat: District volunteers, awards presentation, youth educational activities, picnic lunch, games, hay ride, and live music.When: Saturday, March 14, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The award ceremony begins at noon.Where: Green Swamp West Meeting Facility, 13345 Ranch Road, Dade City, 33525Why: Volunteers play an important role in the District’s efforts to improve… Read more

As the Invasive Plant Threatens to Gain a Foothold in the Green Swamp, Agencies Cooperate to Fight It Photo courtesy USDI National Park Service With threats from new invasive plants and animal species continuing to rise in Florida, the District is battling to keep Old World climbing fern from infesting the 560,000-acre Green Swamp. Old World climbing fern, a new invasive vine, is spreading northward from south Florida and has been detected and treated as… Read more

Want to know if we’re catching up on the drought? How does the current drought compare to the historic drought of 2000-2001?A new Southwest Florida Water Management District web page provides information on long-term rainfall and river flows in west-central Florida.Color-coded charts and maps compare current rainfall and river flows to historical levels, illustrating the degree to which levels deviate from normal over the 16-county District.The District developed the… Read more

District staff moderated discussion sessions and presented studies during the 8th Biennial Conference on Stormwater Research and Watershed Management. The conference, which was held in late April, was co-sponsored by the District and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP). The two-day conference provided a forum to discuss and debate a wide range of stormwater treatment and watershed management ideas and issues and provide initial peer review.… Read more

Throughout the year Southwest Florida Water Management District employees volunteer their time and donate money to help support a variety of charitable organizations, but the greatest support comes during the holiday season.The District’s employee committee coordinates the holiday season benevolent efforts, which begin in the fall with an auction to raise funds for the “adopt-a-family” program that helps employees, their families, and their friends and neighbors. Families… Read more

Hurricane Season Approaches Hurricane season is upon us again, even though some areas of the District haven’t even finished clearing away the debris from last season’s devastating series of storms. The 2004 Atlantic hurricane season produced 15 tropical storms and 9 hurricanes, 6 of which were major hurricanes. Florida experienced widespread damage from four of the majors — Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne. A major hurricane is classified as a category 3, 4 or 5… Read more

Residents are invited to give input on the District’s Withlacoochee River Watershed Initiative during a series of public workshops. The initiative is a multi-year effort designed to better understand the dynamics of the river and watershed, identify how alterations have affected the system, and evaluate alternatives to better manage the water resources.  Nineteen river model scenarios have been identified through years of citizen input. These scenarios were… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board voted Tuesday to combine the Hillsborough River and Northwest Hillsborough Basin Boards.The decision comes after the Senate Committee on Environmental Preservation and Conservation and the state’s Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability both suggested the District consider merging Basin Boards where appropriate.In response to these recommendations, District staff thoroughly… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District will hold its monthly meeting Tuesday, April 27, at 9 a.m. at District Headquarters, located at 2379 Broad Street in Brooksville. The meeting is open to the public however, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines will be followed to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and facemasks are required inside District buildings. To view the Governing Board meeting online, click on the… Read more

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 at the following Pasco County properties:  

• Cypress Creek Preserve…

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A love of nature led to Bob and Sharon Blanchard’s decision to work with the District on two perpetual conservation easements for the Little Everglades Ranch. “So many people move here for the beauty and wildlife, so it is sad to see all the rural farmland disappearing,” said Sharon Blanchard. “We truly love this property and wanted to make sure it is preserved for future generations.” District Governing Board members and staff joined the Blanchards in celebrating… Read more

Kurt Durham and Mitch Malone, senior field technicians, each received the District’s Shining Star award. Richard Owen, deputy executive director; Cheryl Johnson, field technician supervisor; and Ross Morton, Sarasota regulation director, are also pictured. The District’s Employee Committee recently surprised two of its own members, Kurt Durham and Mitch Malone, by presenting each with a Shining Star award for March… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District will hold a Final Evaluation Committee Meeting on Wednesday, November 6, at 3:00 p.m. (local time) to evaluate responses to ITN 23-4194 Deferred Compensation 457(b) and Roth Plan Administration. 

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 at the following Pasco County properties:

• Cypress Creek Preserve
• …

Read more

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 at the… Read more

There are thousands of acres of recreational lands throughout the District and most of them are free to visitors. Now the District has two new resources to give more information about these opportunities. The District has published a new recreational guide highlighting nearly 70 properties in a new… Read more

The "Southwest Florida Water Management District(Southwest Florida Water Management District)":/ is gathering input needed to improve identification of flooding risks in Citrus County's *Center Ridge watershed*.The District is serving as a cooperating technical partner for the "Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)(Federal Emergency Management Agency)":http://www.fema.gov on its national effort to "update and modernize the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs)(Federal… Read more