Local Restoration Projects
Communities throughout Mobile and Baldwin Counties continue to struggle with the impacts of increasing amounts of impervious surface. Two major challenges are the management of stormwater and sediments. MBNEP will provide funding to local municipalities, counties, and grassroots groups to undertake ecosystem restoration projects with priority given to stormwater and sediment management projects. A third priority will include wetland function or coverage improvements. This third priority is in response to two current stressors to our ecosystem: the Deepwater Horizon Incident and climate change. Funding recipients will be encouraged to engage community residents in the restoration project to foster environmental stewardship and enhance community sustainability with the aim of restoring vital ecosystem components and increasing broader-scale functionality and health.
In 2010, MBNEP initiated the Local Restoration Partnership Program, providing grants to local public government entities to undertake projects that address wetlands restoration, stormwater Runoff, or sediment management measures. Five projects were funded in the first round:
City of Chickasaw, $20,000.00 to support wetlands restoration at Brooks Park.
City of Daphne,$15,000 to initiate the use of low impact development and green infrastructure practices and incentives for the City and to recommend policy and subdivision regulations changes.
City of Fairhope, $50,000 to prepare a Volanta Gulley Watershed Management Plan and at least two related stormwater management projects.
City of Foley, $82,500 to restore Wolf Creek to its natural channel design, reversing impacts to this section of Wolf Creek caused by stormwater runoff.
City of Orange Beach, $27,500.00 to enhance wetlands along Highway 161 to water quality in Cotton Bayou, and $30,000 to develop a Canal Road Overlay District to minimize paved surfaces and promote infiltration, while expanding bicycling and walkability.