Featured Project
Newman Branch Creek
Cost: $837,650
Partners: TECO, Tampa Bay Estuary Program (Tampa Bay Environmental Restoration Fund), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Southwest Florida Water Management District, Gulf of Mexico Foundation
Newman Branch Creek is a phase of a larger Newman Branch project. Click here to learn about other phases.
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Through seven phases of partnership with TECO spanning nearly a decade, Newman Branch has been transformed from a straight ditch dredged and channelized in the 1940s to prevent flooding of farmland to a meandering tidal creek winding through mangrove forests, salt marshes and upland hammocks.
Located adjacent to TECO’s Big Bend power plant in Apollo Beach, more than 100 acres of critical coastal habitats have been created or enhanced on TECO-owner property placed under a permanent conservation easement.
The restoration, assisted by the Southwest Florida Water Management District, provides important habitat for fish and wildlife, while providing wetland treatment of runoff from nearby agricultural operations. Ecosphere’s work also has resulted in creation of small freshwater “frog ponds” important to amphibians and wading birds.
The property is open to the public, with a nature path, boardwalk and viewing tower, and a marked paddling trail.
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