The Southwest Florida Water Management District featured RES and its seagrass restoration work in the Tampa Bay, Florida area in its Watter Matters Magazine as an example of the record-breaking returns that natural resource restoration provides.

The Surface Water Improvement and Management (SWIM) Program recorded an 11 percent increase in seagrass growth in Tampa Bay since 2008, documenting the largest extent of seagrass since the District began the seagrass mapping program. The District study also shows gains in the greater Tampa Bay area’s St. Joseph Sound and Clearwater Harbor, as well as in Charlotte Harbor and nearby Lemon Bay and Sarasota Bay.

“Since the seagrass monitoring program began in the late 1980s, the communities around the District’s SWIM Program priority water bodies have experienced impressive improvements in wastewater and stormwater treatment,” said Jennette Seachrist, District SWIM Program manager. “The District is working hard to implement regional stormwater improvement projects that reduce pollution entering these water bodies.”

Read the full article here.