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A cooperatively funded project between the Southwest Florida Water Management District and Sarasota County will develop a computer model to determine how much pollution is entering the countys surface waters.The model will estimate how much pollution will result from proposed land development designs, estimate the effectiveness of projects, and relate pollutant loads to water quality. This model will help the District and the county with efforts to improve the water quality… Read more

A cooperatively funded project between the Southwest Florida Water Management District and Pinellas County will determine how much pollution is entering Pinellas Countys impaired waters.The study, which will estimate pollutant loads and yields discharged to impaired Pinellas County waters, will help the District and the County with efforts to improve the water quality in Pinellas County watersheds and ultimately Tampa Bay. To compute estimates of annual pollutant loads,… Read more

As the school year comes to a close, so does another successful season of the District’s Splash! school grant program. This year the District awarded 65 Splash! grants to K-12 educators to help enhance and support water education activities. In total the grants engaged more than 20,000 students and adults. For many educators, the Splash! grant program enables them to give students hands-on experiences that otherwise would not occur. This may include a field study at… Read more

Community leaders recently gathered with water experts to discuss the needs to protect and restore springs. It was part of Hernando County’s “Water You Doing?” workshop educating the public about watersheds, springs and groundwater. Several District staff participated in the event. Dr. Chris Anastasiou, a chief environmental scientist at the District, opened the day-long event with an overview of the water challenges the community faces. Sky Notestein, a senior… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District's Governing Board will hold its monthly meeting Tuesday, June 25, at 9 a.m. at Tampa Bay Water, located at 2575 Enterprise Road in Clearwater. 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… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board recently approved plans to move forward on a restoration project with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to improve water quality in the Palm River.Palm River is located near the Tampa Bypass Canal in central Hillsborough County. The canal stretches from north of Tampa where the Hillsborough River crosses I-75 to McKay Bay. During the canal’s construction in the 1960s, an underwater… Read more

The quality of population estimates and projections depends on the accuracy of the map of a particular service area. Therefore, it is important to review your public supply service area map using either ArcGIS or the Map Viewer links below. Map Viewer is a web-based application that allows you to view maps without having GIS software.It is important that the map we have on file for your service area is accurate. The population data and ratios provided in… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District honored Angela Maraj yesterday during a District ceremony that recognized outstanding programs that focused on water resources education. Maraj serves as the Florida Yards & Neighborhoods Builders/Developers Outreach coordinator in Charlotte, Manatee and Sarasota counties. A total of 27 projects were recognized during the “Partners in Watershed Education Conference” at the Lake Mirror Complex in Lakeland.In… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board will hold its monthly meeting on Tuesday, July 24 at 10 a.m. at Tampa Bay Water, located at 2575 Enterprise Road in Clearwater. To view the Governing Board meeting online, visit … Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District's Governing Board will hold its monthly meeting on Tuesday, July 25 at 10 a.m. at Tampa Bay Water, located at 2575 Enterprise Road in Clearwater. 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… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District is working with the City of Safety Harbor on a project that will reduce erosion within the Harbor Woods Village subdivision and improve water quality in Tampa Bay.During the last 25 years, Bishop Creek has eroded outside the established easement and is encroaching onto adjoining residential properties. Eroded sediment from the banks is being washed downstream and is eventually deposited into Tampa Bay.The Harbor Woods Village… Read more

The District recently presented the Water Matters award to three Pasco County students searching for solutions to improve water quality and sustain freshwater supplies. The Water Matters awards were given as part of the 2022 Pasco Science and Engineering Showcase last month. Hosted by the District School Board of Pasco County, this annual event encourages students to work through the scientific research process to explore pressing issues and problems to create powerful… Read more

Following Hurricane Milton, the Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) has deactivated the Tampa Bypass Canal System and the Hillsborough Flood Detention Area (HFDA), as water levels in the Hillsborough River have returned to normal. This marks a positive step as the region recovers from the heavy rainfall caused by the storm. To assist with flood control during the storm, the District activated the Tampa Bypass Canal System on October 8 to protect… Read more

Staff from four water management districts across the state recently attended a week-long training at District headquarters to learn more about a software program that facilitates environmental flow assessments through instream habitat analysis. The November training on System for Environmental Flow Assessment (SEFA) was led by Ian Jowett and Tom Payne, two leading experts in hydraulic habitat modeling and co-developers of the software program. “The program ensures… Read more

Kass Sink looked harmless enough from the edge, but just below the surface, piles of garbage and debris sat potentially poisoning the drinking water. Kass Sink is like many other sinkholes in Hernando and Citrus counties. Most are clustered around or are considered a part of one of the five first-magnitude springs systems: Weeki Wachee, Homosassa, Chassahowitzka, Kings Bay and Rainbow springs. Some of the sinks have a direct connection to the aquifer. While others may… Read more

The Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) is seeking public input to determine the priority of minimum flows and levels (MFLs) establishment for lakes, wetlands, rivers, streams and aquifers in the District as well as the establishment of water reservations. Legislation requires the District to review and, if necessary, revise this schedule each year. The District will hold a virtual public meeting Aug. 24 at 5 p.m. Members of the public can join the… Read more

More than 700 of the best and brightest minds in water reuse met in Tampa this September to take part in the 22nd Annual WateReuse Symposium, which focused on water reuse and desalination. This is the first time the WateReuse Association has held its annual event in the Tampa Bay area. The association is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to advance the beneficial and efficient use of water resources through education, sound science and technology using… Read more

Modified Phase I Water Shortage Order remains in effect DistrictwideThe Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) Governing Board voted today to extend one-day-per-week watering restrictions for Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties until July 1. This extension mirrors the existing water shortage order currently in effect for Citrus, DeSoto, Hardee, Hernando, Manatee, Polk, Sarasota and Sumter counties; portions of Charlotte, Highlands and Lake… Read more

Innovative ways to test and track water were the themes of this year’s student winners of the District’s Water Matters! Awards. The District recently awarded three students with the Water Matters! Award for their work at the Pasco County Science and Engineering Showcase. This is the second year the District has given the award, which was developed in partnership with Pasco County School District. The award recognizes notable projects relating to the mission of protecting… Read more

On Tuesday, the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s (District) Governing Board adopted a $231.6 million budget for fiscal year (FY) 2025, including $86.6 million for Cooperative Funding Initiatives and District grants for water resources projects.The budget reflects the District’s commitment to protect Florida’s water resources and to improve Florida’s economic vitality. Some of the key initiatives in the District’s FY2025 budget include: 

• $76.5 million…

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