Our vision: To be the world's premier water resources agency;
Our mission: To manage and protect water resources of the region by balancing and improving water quality, flood control, natural systems and water supply;
The South Florida Water Management District is a regional governmental agency that oversees the water resources in the southern half of the state, covering 16 counties from Orlando to the Florida Keys and serving a population of 7.7 million residents. It is the oldest and largest of the state's five water management districts. Created in 1949, the agency is responsible for managing and protecting water resources of South Florida by balancing and improving water quality, flood control, natural systems and water supply.
A key initiative is the restoration of America's Everglades – the largest environmental restoration project in the nation's history. The District is also working to improve the Kissimmee River and its floodplain, Lake Okeechobee and South Florida's coastal estuaries.
We operate the primary water control system and manage water supplies year-round, meeting this challenge even during South Florida's weather extremes.
The primary water control system includes:
More than 1,600 miles of canals and 1,000 miles of levees/berms
More than 500 structures and 700 culverts
60 pump stations
We safeguard and expand regional water supplies for people and the environment for today and tomorrow, emphasizing the development of alternative water sources and water conservation.
We restore and protect natural ecosystems including rivers, lakes, wetlands/uplands, bays, coastal estuaries and America's Everglades. Major natural systems:
Upper Chain of Lakes
Kissimmee River and floodplain
Lake Okeechobee
Caloosahatchee River and estuary
St. Lucie River and estuary
Big Cypress National Preserve
Everglades Water Conservation Areas (3)
Everglades National Park/Florida Bay
We were created by state legislation in 1949 as the Central and Southern Florida Flood Control District. We became the South Florida Water Management District in 1972.
Our service area encompasses 31 percent of the state's total land area, or 18,000 square miles.
Our boundaries are determined by watersheds and hydrology. We encompass all or part* of 16 counties:
Broward
Charlotte*
Collier
Glades
Lee
Hendry
Highlands*
Martin
Miami-Dade
Monroe
Okeechobee*
Orange*
Osceola*
Palm Beach
Polk*
St. Lucie
Agency headquarters are in West Palm Beach with nine Service Centers and eight field stations throughout the 16-county region.
We serve 41 percent of the state's population, or 7.7 million people.
More than 1.3 million acres of land within our boundaries is in public ownership.
45,000 acres of constructed wetlands remove excess nutrients from runoff water before it enters the Everglades.
Our Fiscal Year runs from October 1 through September 30. We are funded through ad valorem (property) taxes and other sources.
Priorities, policies and the budget are set by a nine-member Governing Board.
Day-to-day management is led by the Executive Director.
ACCOUNTABILITY: The BUSINESS of WATER MANAGEMENT
Effectively Managing and Investing Taxpayer Dollars
The South Florida Water Management District constantly looks for and aggressively implements ways to improve and streamline operations. We strive to be as efficient and effective as possible and have instituted a number of enhanced business practices over the years. We know that sustaining our region's water resources depends equally on making the best use of our fiscal, technological and human resources and on creating business opportunities for the communities we serve.
To underscore our transparency and public accountability, we routinely:
Streamline permitting, procurement and other economy-driven processes more »
Expanded permit application accessibility: The District continues to successfully implement all provisions as outlined in the 2009 legislative action delegating the authority to approve permit applications related to water resources and the environment to the executive director. An expanded monthly noticing and meeting process provides enhanced opportunities for public comment on pending Water Use and Environmental Resource Permit applications. Meetings are video-conferenced and webcast to promote wider accessibility and special workshops are conducted for permits of heightened public concern.
Multi-year contracts: Negotiating multi-year contracts for science, monitoring, engineering and information technology services provides uninterrupted, ready access to the best of the state's contracting community with pre-negotiated rates and terms.
Vendor payment database available: This online tool provides transparent, regularly updated access to information about payments of District funds to vendors. Visitors can search this database to find out what vendors the District has done business with (from June 2006 to the present), and see totals of disbursements to each vendor.
Timely payments to vendors and contractors: Most Florida business invoices are paid by the District within 9 days. More than 40,000 invoices were processed in FY 2010, with a 56% increase in productivity of staff processing these transactions, thanks to software and procedural improvements.
Simpler, faster access to regulatory permitting resources: Through our enhanced ePermitting portal, a comprehensive online application and permit information database is readily available, with up-to-date permitting data and options to complete and manage applications electronically.
Actively foster business and community partnerships more »
Building the economy: Each month during Fiscal Year 2010, an average of $63.5 million made its way from the District into the state and local economy through deliverables provided by 2,102 individual engineering, environmental, construction and other vendors.
Innovative financing for construction: The District issued $500 million in the first-ever use of Certificates of Participation for environmental restoration. The proceeds from this funding mechanism helped speed up critically important major water resource construction projects. Those projects have begun and will continue to expand private sector jobs and contribute to the local economy.
Complex projects and research are peer-reviewed: Peer-reviewed work ensures constructive, expert scrutiny and stakeholder involvement in the development of large-scale restoration initiatives.
Measure and report on progress toward meeting established budget and strategic goals more »
Fully integrated Strategic Plans, Annual Work Plans and Budget: Agency goals are clearly outlined, prioritized, monitored and measured thoroughly and consistently. The District's annual budget development process emphasizes fixed overhead costs, baseline operations and funding ongoing costs with recurring revenues. Our budget and financial documents routinely earn national recognition.
Performance-based tracking and reporting: Annual Work Plan progress is reported quarterly, providing actual-to-target performance comparisons. Budget expenditure rates and invoice processing are tracked, analyzed and reported weekly.
Holding the line on taxes: Due to a fiscally responsible approach to budgeting, the District's ad valorem tax rate has not increased for more than 10 years – despite new federal and state mandates that have expanded the agency's responsibilities.
Implemented cost-cutting measures: Actions include a freeze on employee salaries, limits on staff travel, in-house training initiatives and decreased operational expenses for facilities. "Green" initiatives have resulted in a multi-year decline in kilowatt and water usage, reducing the headquarters' annual electric bill by more than $200,000 and using 1.5 million fewer gallons of water (30.6% reduction).
Internal auditing of business processes: The Inspector General routinely audits business functions throughout the agency, spotlighting areas for improvement where appropriate.
Independent external financial audits and awards: For 19 consecutive years, the District has received an award for excellence in financial reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA). The GFOA reviews financial reports from hundreds of government organizations in the United States and Canada. Also during those years, our external auditors have consistently provided an unqualified, or "clean," audit opinion on our financial statements.
Encourage involvement and open dialogue with the public we serve more »
Enhanced regulatory and stakeholder partnerships: To encourage collaboration, special task forces and stakeholder meetings are routinely held for Environmental Resource and Water Use Permit holders, utilities, local governments, agricultural businesses and other groups. The information shared helps stakeholders understand the reasons why certain things are required from them by our processes, and helps us to understand how we can improve to meet their needs.
Collaborate with other agencies and governments to share resources and reduce costs more »
Broader outreach: At no cost to the District, implemented a water conservation electronic billboard campaign at five of South Florida's major airports (Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Palm Beach and Southwest Florida) in coordination with county governments. These airports had combined traffic of more than 106 million domestic and international passengers in 2010.
Data sharing: Acquired LiDAR (a remote sensing system used to collect topographic data) information for the Herbert Hoover Dike, Everglades Agricultural Area and South Florida coastal regions from the Florida Division of Emergency Management, representing millions of dollars in savings to the District.
Embrace technologies that improve our efficiency more »
Comprehensive Project Database: The South Florida Environmental Report's consolidated project report database provides a comprehensive update on District projects and processes referenced in that annual document. The database enables rapid data sorting, searches and retrieval for efficient information and project management.
Vendor payment database available: This online tool provides transparent, regularly updated access to information about payments of District funds to vendors. Visitors can search this database to find out what vendors the District has done business with (from June 2006 to the present), and see totals of disbursements to each vendor.
Simpler, faster access to regulatory permitting resources: Through our enhanced ePermitting portal, a comprehensive online application and permit information database is readily available, with up-to-date permitting data and options to complete and manage applications electronically.
Putting technology to work: The District has adopted and is fully utilizing "state of the art" business- and financial-management software and has implemented detailed project management techniques agency-wide.
EXCELLENCE: Our knowledge, experience and passion set us apart as world-renowned water managers TEAM: We are committed to the success of all as individuals, as a team and as an organization COMMUNICATION: We value and expect open, honest and timely communication HONESTY: Honesty is never compromised SERVICE: We meet our customer's (internal and external) needs with professionalism and integrity
INTEGRITY: Teamwork and sound science are the foundation of our excellence DIVERSITY: Our diversity is the cornerstone of our strength FOCUS: We are steadfast in our belief and commitment to the District's mission ADAPTABILITY: We embrace change by taking informed risks and capitalizing on new opportunities and challenges ENTHUSIASM: We do the coolest work on the planet!
Our Vision: To be the world's premier water resources agency
Our Mission: To manage and protect water resources of the region by balancing and improving water quality, flood control, natural systems and water supply
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