Balancing Water Needs … Protecting Natural Systems Southwest Florida Water Management District

The Comprehensive Living in Watershed Management Initiative LEVY MARION Florida’s The District’s Comprehensive Watershed Management (CWM) initiative, established in Withlacoochee 1994, manages water resources by evaluating how CITRUS River Watershed Watersheds various systems and activities interconnect within each of the District’s 11 major watersheds. SUMTER

HERNANDO CWM brings together land and water Springs Coast LAKE resource planning to lay the groundwork Watershed for a coordinated, science-based approach PASCO to watershed management that uses the Hillsborough latest Geographic Information System River Watershed technology and other modeling tools. Tampa Bay/ Anclote River HILLSBOROUGH Watershed POLK Teams made up of representatives PINELLAS Alafia River Watershed from the District, local governments Lake Wales Ridge and other interested organizations, Peace River Watershed as well as watershed residents, Little Manatee River Watershed Watershed MANATEE identified needed research and HARDEE projects to improve the health of the Manatee River Watershed 11 watersheds. Many of these studies Myakka HIGHLANDS River and projects are now being accomplished Southern Coastal Watershed or are planned within the District’s Watershed Watershed DESOTO SARASOTA Management Program.

CHARLOTTE

The Southwest Florida Water Management District manages and protects water resources in west-central Florida, one of Florida’s fastest-growing regions. Central to this mission is balancing current and future demand for water while safeguarding the natural systems that supply this vital resource. Population in the 16-county region is expected to swell to 5.4 million by 2020, more than doubling the number of people living here in 1980, requiring investment in new water sources and greater water conservation. Healthy watersheds ensure future adequate water supply.

This information will be made available in accessible formats upon request. Please contact the Communications Department at (352) 796-7211 or 1-800-423-1476 (FL only), ext. 4757; TDD only at 1-800-231-6103 (FL only). VISPT0030 05-06 You Live in a Watershed Protecting Florida’s Watersheds

Take a drive or walk through your neighborhood. See if you can discover how Within the boundaries of the District, 11 primary watersheds have been How You Can Help Protect Our and where the water drains. identified for the Comprehensive Watershed Management initiative (please see Watersheds back cover). These 11 watersheds contain approximately 250 smaller sub- By following these five simple steps, Everyone lives, works and plays in a watershed and everyone in your watershed watersheds. you can help improve the health of is part of the watershed community. The animals, fish and plants are too. You Florida’s watersheds now and for future influence what happens in your watershed, good or bad, by how you treat the We all live, work and play in a watershed. Watersheds generations. natural resources — water, soil, air, plants and animals. And your actions in your provide water for drinking, irrigation, agriculture, 1. Use Fertilizers and Pesticides small watershed affect the larger watershed downstream. industry, boating, fishing and swimming. Wildlife also Sparingly need healthy watersheds for food and shelter. Healthy A Florida-friendly yard minimizes the But what exactly is a watershed? Why are watersheds important? And what can watersheds are vital for a healthy environment and need for fertilizer and pesticides. we do to protect or improve the health of the watersheds in which we live? economy. Applying more fertilizer than your yard can use means the excess nutrients can A watershed is an area of land that water flows across as it moves toward a Many people understand that dumping garbage, spilling oil or discharging raw be transported by runoff and may cause common body of water, such as a stream, lake or coast. Water within a specific sewage into a river or lake is harmful to a watershed. algal blooms and lower the oxygen watershed will move across the higher land toward the lowest point within the These are examples of point-source pollution, meaning levels in water bodies, disrupting the area. Florida does not have dramatic changes in land elevation, so watershed that pollution is caused by one easily identifiable source natural balance within the watershed. boundaries are not easy to recognize and water often moves very slowly through located anywhere within a watershed. Point-source Toxins from pesticides may kill beneficial our swamps and other wetlands. pollution is the easiest for residents to recognize and take organisms within the watershed. action to reduce. 2. Conserve Water Watersheds can be very large, draining thousands of square miles to a major Using Florida-friendly landscaping A less recognizable, but just as harmful, type of pollution body of water, or very small, draining a few acres to a small pond. Watersheds techniques also saves water. Over- is called nonpoint-source pollution. This type of pollution comes from a variety may contain open fields, forests and wetlands, as well as cities, suburbs and watering can damage lawns and of sources throughout a watershed, making it harder to identify and more agricultural lands. plants. In addition, excess water difficult to reduce. Stormwater runoff is a major consumption stresses our water supply. Large watersheds are usually made up of smaller contributor of nonpoint-source pollution. Stormwater sub-watersheds. For example, the Tampa Bay water- runoff is rainwater that flows across the land, picking up 3. Have Septic Systems Inspected Regularly shed drains 2,200 square miles and contains over pollutants and eventually washing them into water Leaking septic systems may contaminate 100 tidal creeks and four major rivers. Within this bodies. the water, making it harmful to plants, watershed, each river is an individual watershed that animals and people. Septic tanks should drains its surrounding area and contains numerous Some very common actions, such as using more fertilizers be inspected every two to three years smaller tributaries. and pesticides than a lawn needs, can result in pollution and pumped as needed. as stormwater runoff transports the excess nutrients to water bodies. A person who would never pour motor oil directly into a lake might dispose of it into a 4. Never Dump Anything Down a storm drain, not realizing that the oil will eventually be Storm Drain Typical Watershed Storm drains help prevent flooding of A watershed is an area of land that water flows across as it moves toward flushed into the lake with the storm water. a common body of water, such as a stream, lake or coast. streets and highways by quickly and Ground water (water in porous rock and sand under the efficiently transferring rainwater into Uplands land surface) can also become contaminated by lawn nearby water bodies. Chemicals and higher other toxins dumped in storm drains Land Surface Elevation Uplands fertilizers or leaky septic systems leaching into the ground. find their way into lakes, rivers and lower This tainted ground water is often pushed back to the surface through springs and vents, polluting the surface streams, polluting the watershed. Lowlands River or Stream Uplands Uplands water bodies they feed. 5. Pick Up After Pets Coast In high “pet traffic” areas near water We can reduce the amount of nonpoint-source pollution that enters a bodies, bacteria from pet waste can be watershed by simple actions like using Florida-friendly landscaping to reduce carried into water bodies, harming fish fertilizer and pesticides, inspecting and maintaining septic tanks regularly, and other animals. oblique view of Alafia River watershed picking up pet waste and protecting storm drains from chemicals.