Environmental Stewardship
The Peace River Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority provides safe, reliable drinking water to every member government, every day. That’s the job.
While providing safe and reliable drinking water to our members is a priority, we also want to preserve and protect our natural resources. We accomplish this goal through extensive monitoring, and through projects that enhance the environment while securing our water supply. These include:
Environmental Stewardship
Environmental management is central to our Facility operations. From river flow to wetland restoration, we model and monitor the physical, chemical and biological health of the Peace River, the upper Charlotte Harbor Estuary, Horse Creek and on-site wetlands and other habitat. We do this to ensure that providing water to our member governments does not stress the environment. And, our restoration efforts are focused on enhancing native habitat. To learn more about our hydrobiological monitoring efforts, just click the link below.
Horse Creek Stewardship Program
This program is a public/private partnership between The Mosaic Company and the Authority. A technical advisory group (TAG) conducts ongoing monitoring and assessment of water quality and quantity, fish, and macroinvertebrates. The TAG includes a representative of each of the Water Authority’s four member governments. The program provides corrective action if any harmful changes in the stream’s condition are found. Any significant trend can trigger remediation efforts. Stakeholders have access to an annual report of all the findings and activities.
Wetlands Restoration
Creating water security means ensuring sufficient storage. Unfortunately, construction of our 6-billion gallon off-stream reservoir impacted about 165 acres of wetlands on the RV Griffin site. To mitigate that impact, we restored and enhanced 1,100 acres of previously ditched and drained wetlands within the RV Griffin Reserve. Among the improvements were the installation of ditch blocks to maintain water historical wetland areas, wetland replanting/reseeding efforts and removal of exotic vegetation in disturbed areas. While the restoration has been successfully completed and accepted by the regulatory agencies – we continue monitoring the systems and controlling exotic vegetation. We want this beautiful Florida wetland system to provide habitat for native wildlife—forever.
RV Griffin Reserve
The RV Griffin Reserve is part of a natural drainage divide between the Peace River and Myakka River watersheds. It’s natural habitats provide a haven for native Florida wildlife and plants many of which are becoming increasingly rare. There are fox squirrels, raccoons, white tail deer, wild turkeys, gopher tortoises, wading birds, and others. Previously altered habitats have been restored by the Authority, providing food and shelter. The RV Griffin Reserve is owned by the Southwest Florida Water Management District, managed by the Peace River Authority and enjoyed by trail hikers, mountain bikers, and horseback riders alike, who come to enjoy the tranquility the Reserve offers.
