The Polk County Commission voted this week to spend $600,000 toward the purchase of a 153-acre tract lying east and north of Lake Pansy near the intersection of U.S. 17 and U.S. 92.
This is a joint purchase with the Winter Haven, whose City Commission approved the project in July. Total purchase price is $1.4 million.
Winter Haven officials called the site consisting of 140 acres of wetlands “one of the last large ecologically valuable parcels within the city limits.”
The site had previously been reviewed for purchase in 2023 by the Polk County Environmental Lands Program and Polk’s CLASAC panel had recommended pursuing its purchase.
Winter Haven will manage the property.
Tentative plans call for a restoration project that will address treating discharges between Lake Pansy and Lake Rochelle and some future passive recreation and educational projects.

There is a predicted 63 million gallon per day projected water deficit by 2075 and how that gap will be filled will depend on pending legal fights and even more expensive alternative water supply efforts, the Polk Regional Water Cooperative’s board heard Wednesday.
The main legal fight involves the dispute with Tampa Bay Water over whether Polk has a valid claim to some of the water in the Alafia River, which begins in the Mulberry area.
The dispute is scheduled for an administrative hearing in March after attempts to resolve the dispute earlier this year failed.
Edward delaParte told board members their position is that Tampa Bay Water is claiming water it does not need and Polk does need.
Eric DeHaven, PRWC’s executive director, said the alternatives including figuring out how to tap the Upper Peace River and an even deeper portion of the Lower Floridan Aquifer. They could also offer to buy water from Tampa Bay Water.
There was no discussion of how much that would cost and how it would affect water rates for Polk water customers in order to secure water for future development.
Meanwhile, work is progressing on the construction of wells and pipelines in connection with the Southeast Polk and Lakeland area projects.
Those projects involve tapping the shallowest sections of the Lower Floridan Aquifer and installing deep wells to get rid of the waste from the treatment of the poor-quality water being pumped from the Lower Floridan wells.
DeHaven also got the go-ahead to explore the feasibility of constructing a reservoir south of Fort Meade.

The Bartow City Commission voted unanimously Monday night to approve the annexation and rezoning for a controversial development called Emilie Springs east of the city along the Peace Creek Drainage Canal.
Commissioners made a point of telling the audience that Monday’s vote does not guarantee final approval when the issue returns to them early next year after state review.
Monday’s hearing was pretty much a replay of the arguments pro and con that occurred at last month’s Planning and Zoning Commission meeting.
Rural residents on Gerber Dairy Road argued the proposed densities would be incompatible with their lifestyle.
Bartow residents raised issues about flooding, school capacity, the housing glut and mortgage crisis and just how much the addition of thousands of homes will affect the city’s small-town atmosphere.
Consultants representing the developer dismissed most of those concerns, arguing all of those issues will have to be addressed before home construction can begin.
The project came to the city after previously being denied by the County Commission, which typically does not say no to many development projects.

Landscape irrigation is a major component of municipal water use and has long been a target of complaints about overwatering and improperly installed irrigation systems.
A bill filed to be considered in the 2026 session of the Florida Legislature proposes to remedy that, at least when it comes to new development and significant redevelopment.
It is SB 508 proposed by Sen. Keith Truenow from Lake County.
There is no House companion bill at this time and the bill has not been assigned to any committees.
Truenow’s bill contains detailed definitions of irrigation equipment, sets standards for irrigation efficiency and volumes and promotes the use irrigation professionals to make sure systems are installed and maintained properly.
The bill also includes penalties for violations.
The bill is intended to set a statewide standard but does not preempt local officials from approving more stringent standards.
The bill’s timing is apt, coming at a time when many local governments in Florida are looking for ways to make existing water supplies last before resorting to more expensive so-called alternative water sources.

The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Hampton Tract, including closed area tracts at Green Swamp Wilderness Preserve in Polk County, will be temporarily closed to the public for feral hog hunts Nov. 18-20.
Only permitted hunters will be allowed on the property during these dates. All 30 permits for these hunts have been sold.
The Green Swamp Wilderness Preserve Hampton Tract is located at 14301 Rock Ridge Road in Lakeland.
This activity is one of a series of feral hog hunts being held on Seiftmud lands to control the damage being caused to the natural habitats.
Swiftmud officials only allow hogs to be controlled through hunts when the damage they cause exceeds unacceptable levels, and damage is occurring more frequently and with increasing severity.
Feral hogs live throughout Florida in various habitats, but prefer moist forests and swamps, as well as pine flatwoods. They are omnivorous and feed by rooting with their broad snouts, which can cause extensive damage to the natural habitats. In fact, they can leave an area looking like a plowed field.
Feral hogs are not native to Florida and are believed to have been introduced by explorer Hernando DeSoto as early as 1539. They can weigh more than 150 pounds, measure over 5 feet in length and travel in herds with their offspring.
For more information, please call the District’s Land Management section at (813) 375-0665 or visit WaterMatters.org/HogHunts.

The controversial plan to allow thousands of new homes along the Peace Creek Drainage Canal east of Bartow suffered another setback Monday night.
The Bartow Planning and Zoning Commission tied on whether to annex one of the project sites and unanimously voted to deny plans to develop the site seeking annexation and a site that is already in the city limits.
The votes, which came without discussion, capped a five-hour hearing and drops the issue in the lap of the Bartow City Commission. which will consider the development package at a hearing Nov. 3 at the Bartow Civic Center.
The county planning staff has recommended approval.
The hearing involved requests by neighboring landowners to win approval for a proposed 2,245-unit residential development.
It lies within the city’s electrical service area and has access to city water and sewer, which would be necessary to make the development of the site practical because of the amount of wetlands and poorly drained soils on the site, according to the city staff report.
Part of the property is already in the city, but was earlier proposed for industrial development that dates from the time when a second leg of the Central Polk Parkway was proposed to run through the property south of Bartow Municipal Airport.
The other part just east of that site has been the subject of repeated attempts for development approval before the County Commission, which denied the request.
Bart Allen, the lawyer representing the landowners, argued the vote should not be a popularity contest and should instead be based on facts.
However, he acknowledged there were still some details of the project regarding everything from flood zones to school capacity that have not been worked out and will not be unless the project gets the initial zoning approval to move toward eventual final development review and platting.
The crowd of Bartow residents and property owners who live in adjacent rural homesteads gave commissioners a long list of reasons to deny the requests.
They included the flooding potential, which was bolstered by an artist’s rendering of the project that depicts dense subdivisions located on islands surrounded by flood retention areas and accounts of the effects of recent hurricanes, claims there is a housing glut in the area that makes it unlikely the market can absorb more houses. the compatibility of small residential lots 40 to 60 feet wide with adjacent rural homesteads containing five to 20 acres and questions about whether the project will increase overcrowding of local schools unless students are assigned to schools as far away as the outskirts of Auburndale.

Gaye Sharpe, Tabitha Biehl and Jeff Spence

The Polk County Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the appointment of Tabitha Biehl as the new director of Polk County Parks and Natural Resources.
She succeeds Gaye Sharpe, who is retiring. She officially assumes the position Oct. 27.
Biehl has been at the county for 20 years in various roles in the Polk County Enviornmental Lands Program and brings a broad experience in land management, securing grants, expanding environmental education and other related fields.
County Manager Bill Beasley cited her varied professional background in seeking commission approval for her promotion from her position as land and water natural areas manager. She had held that position since 2018.
Before the vote, commissioners praised the good reputation she and Ms Sharpe had in the community and her ability to make the details of technical projects understandable to the general public.
Also present at Tuesday’s meeting was Jeff Spence, who preceded Sharpe and Biehl in that position.
Looking ahead Biehl discussed the importance of protecting natural resources and making the county’s parks and natural resource sites accessible to the public.