The Community
Project Description
- The Dewberry team will take a community centered, comprehensive approach to watershed management planning. Our team will incorporate EPA’s six steps in watershed planning with EPA’s nine key watershed management elements “a” through “i” into a broad overall watershed management approach for improvement and protection of the six things people value most about living along the Alabama coast. The goal is to establish a plan that is founded on equitable, practical and buildable restoration and remediation alternatives that demonstrate the communities’ commitment to restoring the ecologic as well as the economic functions and values of the watershed such as enhanced public access, use, and enjoyment. The Dewberry team has a wealth of applied experience with program implementation planning, preliminary planning, and design that produces cost effective projects with clear conceptual renderings, schedules, and trackable milestones, developing monitoring and educational components, and identifying technical and financial assistance. Stakeholders will have a voice in scoring and prioritizing solutions, actions, and plans. The final WMP will be the communities’ plan.
Outreach Plan
- Throughout the course of the project, the entire BLB watershed community will be kept informed of milestones and accomplishments of the study process and will be continuously encouraged to participate in community meetings and surveys. Resource materials to be developed and used for the process will include PowerPoint presentations, maps, graphics, surveys, fact sheets, worksheets, invitation letters, and lists of active community participants. All items will be developed in English, Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Laotian. Printed
materials will be distributed to the community at large via inclusion with the City of BLB monthly newsletter and monthly statements from the BLB Utilities Board. Citizens are already acclimated to receiving information in this manner. Our innovative approach is as follows: Identify Stakeholders, Recruit Stakeholders, Community Meetings. - The completed WMP will be presented and discussed to engage locally elected and state officials in an open meeting of the Bayou La Batre City Council, or another open house forum. It will be essential to engage stakeholders that may be responsible for project implementation such as City, County, EPA, and FWS. Some of these implementation agencies may also provide funding for potential projects. It is anticipated that the WMP will be adopted in full along with a resolution requesting that the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) and the MBNEP continue working closely with the City in its watershed education programs and in development of the implementation phase of the project.
Fact Sheet
Steering Committee
Local Grassroots Groups
- South Bay Communities Alliance
Photo Gallery
Other Resources
- Alma Bryant High School Academy of Coastal Studies
- Video: Stories of Seafood Town, Part I, Beginnings
- Video: Stories of Seafood Town, Part II, The Industries
- Video: Stories of Seafood Town, Part III, Problems and the Future
Survey
- A Community Survey has been developed and we need your input. Please click here to take the Survey or copy the URL into your web browser. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BLBWMPSurvey
Contact Us