To understand the scope and breadth of South Florida Water Management District, it helps to see the region within SFWMD's boundaries in terms most of us are familiar with. Most of us know something about our own city or county, and we know about the lakes or rivers close to us. The maps in this section present an overview of these features: including a counties and basins map, and another map depicting the primary geographic features of the portions of south and central Florida within the SFWMD.
SFWMD Counties and Basins
Water management district boundaries are based on natural, hydrologic basins rather than political limits - to allow for effective and efficient planning and management of regional water resources.
These boundaries were defined in Florida's 1972 Water Resources Act. There are five different districts in Florida.
The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) encompasses all or part* of 16 counties:
(NOTE to NEW and CURRENT RESIDENTS: Counties provide information and links to many local government services, including water utilities and schools. Links to county web sites are provided in the list above.)
Close to 7 million people live within this district, which covers a total area of 17,930 square miles. There are two basins in the SFWMD. The Okeechobee Basin is based on the sprawling Kissimmee-Okeechobee-Everglades (KOE) ecosystem, which stretches from Central Florida's Chain of Lakes to Lake Okeechobee, and south to the Florida Keys. It includes the 700,000 acre Everglades Agricultural Area, the intensely developed southeast coast and Everglades National Park. The Big Cypress Basin includes all of Collier and part of Monroe counties, the Big Cypress National Preserve and the 10,000 Islands.
Agency Overview
Overview Maps
Northern Everglades
