Florida Water Management Districts

Florida's water management districts are five regional agencies that manage water under Chapter 373, Florida Statutes, with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection supervising them at the state level (Florida DEP).

The Florida Legislature set the policy that water be managed at a state and regional level, so DEP exercises general supervisory authority while the districts run water resources in their regions (DEP Office of Water Policy). The five are the Northwest Florida, Suwannee River, St. Johns River, Southwest Florida and South Florida water management districts. The Suwannee River district calls itself the fifth largest of the five in geographic area, population served, tax base and agency staff (SRWMD).

The Florida system grew in stages. The South Florida Water Management District says it was created in 1949 and is the oldest and largest of the five (SFWMD). The Southwest Florida Water Management District was created in 1961 by a special act of the Florida Legislature to be the local sponsor of the Four River Basins, Florida Project, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers flood control project (SWFWMD history). The St. Johns River and Suwannee River districts say all five Florida districts were created through the Water Resources Act of 1972 (SRWMD; SJRWMD), and section 373.069 divided the state into the five districts at 11:59 p.m. on December 31, 1976 (s. 373.069, F.S.).

Florida's district lines do not follow county lines, so DEP lists each district with whole counties plus portions of others, from the Northwest Florida district in the Panhandle to the South Florida district reaching Monroe County and the Keys (Florida DEP).

The Northwest Florida district covers 11,305 square miles and about 1.5 million residents, including the Perdido, Pensacola Bay, Choctawhatchee, St. Andrew Bay, Apalachicola and St. Marks basins (NWFWMD). The Suwannee River district covers 7,640 square miles, 13 river basins and a population of 360,000 (SRWMD). The St. Johns River district covers 12,283 square miles in 18 counties of northeast and east-central Florida (SJRWMD).

The Southwest Florida district encompasses roughly 10,000 square miles in all or part of 16 counties and serves nearly 6 million people (SWFWMD). The South Florida district covers 16 counties from Orlando to the Florida Keys and serves 9 million residents (SFWMD).

Split counties are where the sources differ. DEP lists Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Jefferson and Levy as partly in the Suwannee River district and Putnam only under the St. Johns River district (DEP), while the Suwannee River district's own page also counts part of Putnam County (SRWMD). The Suwannee River district page also links a map of district boundaries (SRWMD).

Florida's districts work in four core mission areas set out by DEP: water supply, water quality, flood protection and floodplain management, and natural systems (Florida DEP).

For water supply, a Florida district that finds existing sources inadequate for the 20-year planning period develops a Regional Water Supply Plan listing the projects, costs and projections needed (DEP). For flood protection, the districts construct, operate and maintain flood protection structures throughout their regions. For natural systems, they carry out the Minimum Flows and Levels program and reservations of water.

The districts are regulators and planners rather than Florida's tap water utilities. The St. Johns River district states plainly that it works closely with utilities on water supply but is not a water supplier (SJRWMD), so a household billing question goes to the city or county utility, not the district.

Each Florida district also carries regional projects. SFWMD names restoration of the Everglades as a key initiative, along with work on the Kissimmee River and its floodplain, Lake Okeechobee and South Florida's coastal estuaries (SFWMD).

Each Florida district is run by a governing board of 9 members who live in the district, except the Southwest Florida district, which has 13, all appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Florida Senate (Florida Statutes section 373.073).

Under section 373.073, Florida Statutes, a board member's term is 4 years, beginning March 2 of the year of appointment, and terms are staggered so that in each year of the Governor's 4-year term the Governor appoints three or four members to the Southwest Florida board and two or three to each other board (s. 373.073, F.S.). SWFWMD describes its 13 board members as unpaid volunteers who set policy and administer the budget (SWFWMD). DEP exercises general supervisory authority over all five Florida districts through a cooperative working relationship and guidance memos (DEP).

Florida's districts levy ad valorem property taxes, and the law caps each district at a different maximum total millage for district and basin purposes (Florida Statutes section 373.503).

The Florida caps are ceilings, not the rates actually charged. SWFWMD notes that its funding comes from ad valorem property taxes along with other intergovernmental sources, and that while the Legislature allows a levy up to 1 mill ($1 for each $1,000 of assessed land value), its actual tax levy has been less than the maximum (SWFWMD).

Section 373.503 sets the Northwest Florida Water Management District cap at 0.05 mill and the Southwest Florida cap at 1.0 mill, the lowest and highest of the five Florida ceilings (s. 373.503, F.S.).

A Florida district permit is needed for consumptive water use the district regulates, but no permit is required for domestic consumption of water by individual users (Florida Statutes section 373.219).

Section 373.219, Florida Statutes, lets a governing board or DEP require permits for consumptive use of water and attach conditions so the use is not harmful to the water resources of the area (s. 373.219, F.S.). DEP lists the regulatory programs delegated to the Florida districts as consumptive use of water, well construction and environmental resource permitting (DEP).

The quickest route is the district's own main line: 850-539-5999 for Northwest Florida in Havana, 386-362-1001 for Suwannee River in Live Oak, 386-329-4500 for St. Johns River in Palatka, 352-796-7211 for Southwest Florida in Brooksville and 561-686-8800 for South Florida in West Palm Beach (DEP). Last verified: October 15, 2026, on the Florida DEP Office of Water Policy website.