The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has adopted restoration plans for the Alafia and Manatee River Basins.
The Alafia River Basin covers an area of more than 410 square miles in Hillsborough and Polk Counties. The Manatee River drains an area of 360 square miles, flowing 45 miles westward before discharging to lower Tampa Bay.
These restoration plans implement water quality restoration goals adopted by DEP in 2005 and 2009 and dovetail with and support the Tampa Bay Reasonable Assurance Plan prepared by the Tampa Bay Estuary Program.
“The restoration plans for these basins are examples of the collaborative effort required to achieve restoration of the impaired waters of our state,” said DEP Secretary Herschel T. Vinyard Jr.
The Alafia River Basin restoration plan identifies 78 restoration projects totaling more than $170 million.
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Press Release, March 14, 2014