PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — It’s not every day that tourist attractions and public utilities team up, but in Largo, a beautiful partnership blossoms.
Back in 2021, Tampa Bay Water and The Florida Botanical Gardens Foundation teamed up to create educational signs, and now they are back in 2023, doing it again. They say it’s a win-win situation.
“I think it’s wonderful whenever any sort of organization can collaborate with other organizations to make something positive for our community first of all, but also, the people who come to the Tampa Bay Area,” said Alison Nourse-Miller with the Florida Botanical Gardens Foundation.
Nourse- Miller refers to the new signs recently installed at the Florida Botanical Gardens Wetlands Walkway, courtesy of the Tampa Bay Water Source Water Protection Mini-Grant Program.
“One of the signs, for example, will tell you what are some of the plants you might see in the wetlands and some of the animals you might see,” said Nourse-Miller. “Another sign is going to talk about how the wetlands help filter water.”
Tampa Bay Water says both parties have the same mission, so why not join forces?
“Part of providing safe, clean, reliable water is educating folks on protecting that water, and so the most economical way is to go out into the community and have help,” said Tampa Bay Water General Manager Chuck Carden.
The mini-grant also included the installation of a chronology.
“And you insert your smartphone, take a picture, upload that picture to a website, and then you can view other views of that particular site over time; it’s very interesting to see how this one area of the wetland changes,” said Nourse-Miller.
The number of educational signs in the past three years has reached over 20, and both parties say they do not intend to slow down.
“This helps, we can get out to these groups and foundations like this, and they can multiply that message to the young folks and educate our future generations on what water is and how to protect it,” said Carden.
