Medard Reservoir is an impoundment of the Little Alafia River, created in 1970 by a District dike and control structure on a reclaimed phosphate mine. Outflow runs through the District's structure into the Alafia River and on to Tampa Bay. For boating it is a closed pool: no lock, portage or passage to the river is described in any agency source, so what you launch onto is all you get.
Water levels here are set by dam-safety operations, not season. The reservoir has been held partially drawn down since 9 June 2025 so the District can test a drainage system installed in 2022, and SWFWMD says it has no set timeline for refilling — "The reservoir may be lowered for an extended period of time." That statement, from June 2025, is still the latest word. The swings are real: Hurricane Milton dropped nearly 7 inches of rain in October 2024 and raised the reservoir 6.5 feet, and the District — already releasing 600 cfs — pumped it down 5 feet to protect the dam while the Alafia ran at Major Flood Stage below. No agency publishes a current stage; the only figure with a stated datum is 58.52 ft above sea level, from a 2009 bathymetric survey. Call (813) 757-3802 for the ramp's status before you tow.
Plain English Summary
| Entire reservoir | No wake, idle speed only — not a zone, the whole water body. FWC: "Due to the convoluted nature of the reservoir there is a no wake restriction (idle speed only) on boats for safety purposes." The FWC-format ramp information sheet hosted on the USF Hillsborough Water Atlas adds that all boat sizes are permitted. We found no horsepower cap, electric-only rule or gas-motor ban on the FWC lake page, the Hillsborough County park page, the county boat ramps page or the SWFWMD recreation page. |
| Boat ramp | Closed to trailered and motorized vessels until SWFWMD refills the reservoir to a safe operating level. Canoes, kayaks and bank fishing only. Hillsborough County Parks & Recreation, on behalf of SWFWMD reservoir operations. |
| Park hours | Day use only — Spring/Summer 8 AM to 7 PM, Fall/Winter 8 AM to 6 PM (Hillsborough County). Fishing outside those hours requires a separate After Hours Fishing pass at $30, and no discounts apply to that pass. Note what it is: a fishing permit, not a launching or retrieval permit. Plan to be off the water and out the gate by closing. |
| Fees | Hillsborough County: "$2 per vehicle. Up to 8 people per vehicle. $5 boat launch fee." Because Edward Medard is a conservation park, a trailered boat pays both — $7 effective. Annual passes: $50 individual hang tag, $100 family hang tag, $100 boat ramp hang tag, $30 After Hours Fishing pass. A valid Hillsborough County boat registration must be presented to obtain a free annual boat ramp pass. |
| Pass discounts | 25% off: first responders living or working in Hillsborough County; county residents age 65 and older; BOCC employees; active duty military and veterans (proof of residency and military service required). 50% off: Hillsborough County residents who are 100% disabled (proof of residency and disability required). Free: Hillsborough County disabled veterans, honorably discharged with a service-connected disability, and surviving spouses and parents of deceased members of the Armed Forces, National Guard or Reserves who have fallen in combat. Edward Medard sells full-price passes on site during normal hours but is listed with "(no free or discount passes distributed here)". |
| Dam emergency sirens | Three sirens are installed downstream of the reservoir. Per SWFWMD's 10 September 2009 release announcing the program, the monthly test sounds on the first Saturday of each month at noon for about 15 seconds; in a real emergency the sirens alternate three minutes of sound with three minutes of silence to alert residents to evacuate and seek higher ground. Locations, verbatim from that release: "The first siren is located at the entrance to the reservoir dam. The second siren is one mile east of where Bloomingdale Avenue dead ends at New River Hills Parkway. The third siren is located on the west side of River Drive just south of Lithia Pinecrest Road." Coverage is described as "expected to reach a two-mile radius." We found no source dated later than 2009 confirming the test schedule still runs. |
| Fishing regulations | We found no lake-specific bag or size regulation on FWC's Edward Medard Reservoir site and forecast page, which mentions TrophyCatch participation and the no-wake rule and nothing else regulatory. We did not open FWC's statewide freshwater regulations or the Southwest Region summary, so we are not publishing "statewide rules apply" as a verified claim — check FWC's current regulations before you keep fish. |
| Full legal text | Official boating regulations → |
Is the boat ramp at Edward Medard open?
Can I still kayak or canoe at Medard Reservoir?
What does it actually cost to launch here?
Can I run a bass boat on Medard Reservoir?
How deep and how big is Medard Reservoir?
Where else can I launch a trailered boat while Medard is closed?
Medard Reservoir is a 700-acre impoundment in a reclaimed 1960s phosphate mine, inside a Hillsborough County conservation park about six miles east of Brandon. American Cyanamid donated the mined land to the water management district in 1969; a dike and control structure went in the next year, and the county built the regional park around it. The bottom is as irregular as that history suggests — FWC calls the ledges and bars productive for all species — and the whole reservoir runs at idle speed only, so this is trolling-motor water even at full pool.
The ramp has been closed since 9 June 2025 for the drawdown, with no reopening date — call (813) 757-3802 before you tow. Canoes and kayaks still go in, and the entry station rents them at $25 for up to four hours, $10 each additional hour. When the ramp reopens, a trailered boat pays $7 — $2 conservation-park entry plus the $5 launch fee — and the day ends at the gate: 7 p.m. in spring and summer, 6 p.m. in fall and winter. The fishing is a stocked, fertile mix of largemouth bass, sunshine bass, black crappie, bluegill, redear and channel catfish, with bank fishing open through the closure.
The dam is a high-hazard earthen structure, and three emergency sirens stand downstream. The announced test is the first Saturday of each month at noon, for about 15 seconds. A real alert is different — three minutes of sound alternating with three minutes of silence — and it means evacuate to higher ground.