Water-Related News

Myakka River headwaters watershed purchased for conservation

363 acres at headwaters of the Myakka River in Manatee County will be preserved

MANATEE COUNTY – The Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast announced Wednesday the permanent protection of 363 acres at the headwaters of the Myakka River in Myakka City.

Seven creeks converge into one river, the Myakka, at the newly named Myakka Headwaters Preserve.

Clear water allows the creek bottoms to support submerged aquatic plants that are unable to grow in sunlight-blocked blackwaters found elsewhere on the Myakka.

The preserve is next to the 2,300-acre Flatford Swamp, the river’s largest forested wetland.

The Myakka River Land Fund of Manatee Community Foundation awarded $1.3 million for the permanent protection of the Myakka Headwaters Preserve. The fund is to purchase or restore environmentally significant lands within the Manatee County Myakka River Watershed.

“Safeguarding this rare property is essential to the health of everything downstream,” said Christine Johnson, president of Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast. “We are grateful for the Myakka River Land Fund of the Manatee Community Foundation for protecting these rare lands for people and nature. Our quality of life depends on it.”