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Watershed Information

A watershed is the land area from which water flows into a stream, lake, or bay. No matter where you live on earth, you live in a watershed! To determine which watershed you live in, use the Find My Watershed interactive map and type your address in the search bar located in the upper left corner.

Pinellas County plans to develop a Watershed Management Plan for each of its drainage basins. These watershed plans guide the County in protecting and managing environmental resources, achieving improvements in water quality in County waters, and providing flood protection when needed. These plans span several years. To learn more, watch the the County’s watershed planning process video.

Watershed Management Plan – Project Meeting Information

An important part of the Watershed Management Plan (WMP) process is conducting a project meeting to gain insight from citizens who live, work, or play in the watershed. The meeting occurs during the Floodplain Analysis portion of the project (see step 3 in the section below) and the goal of the meeting is to obtain feedback on the project’s preliminary floodplain and stormwater model products. Attendees will learn about the data and science used to determine the flood hazard areas, view the preliminary floodplain results and have an opportunity to ask questions and provide comments.

Upcoming WMP Meetings

Watershed Management Plan Development

Pinellas County takes a watershed-wide approach to managing water and water-related resources within its boundaries. By doing so, all characteristics of each watershed can be evaluated to reflect the real, interconnected nature of our water resources. This approach allows the County and its partners to clearly identify, prioritize and address issues related to the watershed’s water resources.

The WMP approach provides a method to evaluate the capacity of a watershed to protect, enhance and restore water quality and natural systems while achieving flood protection. Each plan consists of five major elements:

  1. Watershed Evaluation – This element consists of assembling relevant watershed data to determine each watershed’s water storage and water transportation features, including boundaries and the direction of water flow. Also crucial in this phase is determining survey and field review needs. 
  1. Stormwater Model Development – The County uses the data collected in the previous phase to start building the watershed stormwater model by establishing the preliminary sub-basins and developing a node-link schematic. As with any model, the better the inputs, the better the results.  
  1. Floodplain Analysis – The results of the floodplain analysis help to identify the locations and severity of flooding problems within the watershed. Multiple rainfall scenarios are modeled to determine frequency and extent of flooding, which in turn helps the County better understand the dynamics within the watershed. The floodplain analysis looks at four main components (roadway, drainage, structures and critical facilities) that can be affected by flooding.
  1. Surface Water Resource Assessment – The assessment begins with collecting any needed water quality, habitat or wildlife data, and is followed by an overview of the regulatory status of the watershed. Finally, statistical analysis is conducted to identify trends in the data and explore relationships between various biological and water quality parameters.
  2. Drainage and Water Quality Improvement Alternatives – In the final phase of the watershed management plan, Pinellas County identifies projects that provide flood control and water quality benefits within the watershed. These improvement projects go into detail to depict what actions can be taken, the cost of the improvement, and the results of the improvement (either in reduced flooding or increased water quality). The main objectives of the projects proposed are to reduce flooding impact within the watershed, improve water quality and wildlife habitat within the watershed, and/or increase the watershed’s resiliency related to sea level rise or impacts by people.

Pinellas County Watersheds

  • Allens Creek
  • Alligator Creek
  • Anclote River
  • Bee Branch/Smith Creek
  • Bishop Creek
  • Bonn Creek
  • Briar Creek
  • Brooker Creek
  • Cedar Creek
  • Church Creek
  • Cow Branch
  • Cross Bayou
  • Curlew Creek
  • Hollin Creek
  • Joe’s Creek
  • Klosterman Bayou
  • Lake Chautauqua
  • Lake Seminole
  • Lake Tarpon
  • Long Branch
  • McKay Creek
  • Moccasin Creek
  • Mullet Creek
  • Pinellas Park Ditch #1
  • Pinellas Park Ditch #5
  • Possum Branch
  • Rattlesnake Creek
  • Roosevelt Creek
  • Seminole Bypass Canal
  • Spring Branch
  • Starkey Road
  • Stevenson Creek
  • Tarpon Outfall Canal

If you would like a copy of a watershed plan or watershed summary, please email watershed@pinellas.gov.