By LINDA CHION KENNEY
A regional utility, created to ensure quality drinking water in Tampa Bay, is offering $30,000 in grants to fund projects and events, proposed by community groups, nonprofits, schools and universities.
Grants through the Source Water Protection Mini-Grant Program, presented by Tampa Bay Water, range from $2,000 to $10,000 for activities designed to help protect from pollution the sources of drinking water, including groundwater and river water.
According to Tampa Bay Water officials, “the cleaner the source water, the less energy and fewer chemicals are needed to treat the water before it gets to you.”
The deadline to apply for 2022 grants is 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 12.
Qualifying mini-grant projects include those related to river and stream cleanups; riverbank restoration and stabilization; the protection and preservation of watershed and aquifer recharge zones; and pollution reduction in wetlands, rivers and coastal areas.
Also qualifying are proposals for educational training, workshops, signs and exhibits; public outreach and educational events; and the development of Florida standards-based curriculum, concerning drinking water and the environment.
Grant recipients for 2021 include Keep Tampa Bay Beautiful, which received $10,000 for its “Source Water Protection Education Initiatives.” Keep Pinellas Beautiful received $10,000 for its “Resilient Environmental Education Program in a COVID Time and Beyond.”
Rounding out the 2021 grant recipients are the Florida Botanical Gardens Foundation, which received $5,500 for its “Aquatic Demonstration Area Sign Replacement.” The Boyd Hill Nature Preserve in Pinellas County received $3,400 for its “Water Efficient Pollinator Garden and Water Cycle Education Program.”
The online list of grant recipients from 2016 through 2020 include, as well, Girls Scouts of West Central Florida (for a new water fountain, filling stations and signage at camps), the Coffeepot Bayou Watershed Alliance (for cleanups, water sampling and invasive plant removals), Glazer Children’s Museum (for its water conservation education program and interactive exhibits) and a Sickles High School teacher (to relocate and expand a hydroponic learning garden).
“Because our region depends on surface and groundwater for most of our water supply, it is important to safeguard those sources from pollution and contamination,” Tampa Bay Water officials said.
Surface water, including lakes, rivers, streams, creeks, seas and oceans, makes up nearly half the area’s water supply. Groundwater is below the ground and includes underground aquifers.
To aid in drinking water preservation efforts, Tampa Bay Water officials call for the proper disposal of household chemicals and hazardous waste, which includes aerosols and cleaning chemicals; pool chemicals and propane tanks; paint primer, thinner and stripper; pesticides, herbicides and insecticides; fluorescent light bulbs; and automobile, lawn mower, marine, motorcycle and rechargeable batteries.
Residents can take household hazardous waste to the South County Solid Waste Facility in Gibsonton, at 13000 U.S. Highway 41, on the second Saturday of the month.
Household hazardous waste is accepted the first Saturday of the month at the Sheldon Road Household Hazardous Waste Center in Tampa (9805 Sheldon Road). It is also accepted the third Saturday of the month at the Hillsborough Heights Solid Waste Facility in Seffner (6209 County Road 579).
Hours for all three solid waste facilities are 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and photo identification is required.
Officials call also for the proper disposal of both prescription and over-the-counter medication, noting the safest way to do so is at “take-back” locations when announced. The aim is to prevent medicine “from falling into the wrong hands” and to help keep hormones and chemicals from seeping into drinking water sources.
Tampa Bay Water, a Florida nonprofit and special district created by interlocal agreement among its member governmental bodies, supplies wholesale drinking water to Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties and to New Port Richey, St. Petersburg and Tampa. Roughly 2.5 million people are supplied water through Tampa Bay Water.
For more about the mini-grant program, including application information, along with other Tampa Bay Water initiatives and educational resources, including water quality reports, visit www.TampaBayWater.org or call: 813-929-4533.