South Florida Water Management District - History

History

The region's subtropical extremes combined with efforts to safely populate this "new frontier" led the U.S. Congress to adopt legislation creating the Central and Southern Florida Flood Control Project (C&SF) in 1948.

In 1949, the Florida Legislature created the Central and Southern Florida Flood Control District (C&SF FCD), the predecessor to the South Florida Water Management District, to manage the huge project being designed and built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. A book detailing the first forty years of the South Florida Water Management District titled "Into the Fifth Decade" was written by Thomas E. Huser.

In 1972, with the Florida Water Resources Act (Chapter 373), the state created five water management districts, with expanded responsibilities for regional water resource management and environmental protection. In 1976, voters approved a constitutional amendment giving the districts the authority to levy property taxes to help fund these activities. All five of the state's water management districts' boundaries are determined by watersheds and other natural, hydrologic and geographic features. From the 1980s through the present, newer state legislation further defined and expanded the responsibilities of water management districts, and their relationships with state agencies like the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the Department of Community Affairs and the Governor's office as well as the Florida Legislature.