Community Action Committee

The purpose of this committee is to bring together grassroots organizations for networking, information sharing, issues development, and cooperative training purposes that support the development of grassroots capacity for undertaking environmental activities on a place-based scale. The Community Action Committee is made up of place-based, grassroots organization, and volunteer association representatives and engages in the following:

  1. Discuss/educate on the issues and how they relate to environmental sustainability (i.e., stormwater management, public access, environmentally appropriate affordable housing, and habitat protection).
  2. Educates others on the committee about individual organizational efforts to address issues (opportunities for agencies to present what they do to the group, opportunities for groups to learn new ways of energizing constituencies).
  3. Engages in constructive dialogue on ways to partner with each other to effect positive results.
  4. Identifies community resources to effectively aid in addressing issues/challenges.
  5. Provides increased opportunities for public participation and project involvement (i.e., citizen monitoring, volunteer opportunities, etc.).
  6. Identifies projects and assists with planning for implementation (i.e., water quality monitoring, habitat conservation, restoration and protection, data management, public access, etc.).
  7. Cooperatively identifies tasks/roles for MBNEP in addressing issues or galvanizing action.

In 2016, the CAC adopted a strategy to develop a comprehensive volunteer monitoring program to improve knowledge about water quality in our creeks, streams, rivers, and bays. The goals of this strategy are to provide an ongoing quality data source for measuring the health of the waters flowing through our coastal watersheds; to grow the cadre of citizen scientists in coastal Alabama, and build the capacity and contributions of grassroots groups related to informing and implementing watershed management plans. The CAC, in partnership with grassroots groups throughout Mobile and Baldwin counties, does this by educating citizens about water quality issues related to their local area; supporting existing and establishing new volunteer water quality monitors; providing an online platform for reporting and viewing collected data; and providing technical assistance and broad support to anyone interested or actively engaged in water quality monitoring and reporting.

Meeting Information
2022
May 10, 2022: Agenda, Minutes, Presentation
February 8, 2022: Agenda, Minutes, Presentation

2021
October 12, 2021: Agenda, Minutes, Presentation
Presentations: Deer River Marsh Restoration/Lower Fish River Watershed Restoration
July 13, 2021: Agenda, Minutes, Presentation
April 13, 2021: Agenda, Minutes
Presentations: Citizen Water Quality Reporting, Weeks Bay Eutrophication
January 26, 2021: Agenda, Minutes, Presentation
Presentations: Rain Gardens

2020
November 10, 2020: Agenda, Minutes, Presentation
Presentations: Native Plant Species, Presentation Resource
August 11, 2020: Agenda, Minutes, Presentation
Presentations: Invasive Plant Species
May 12, 2020: Agenda, Minutes, Presentation
Presentations: Osprey Initiative-Litter Gitters, DISL's CAMEO Program
February 11, 2020: Agenda, Minutes
Presentations: Tracking Sewage Spills, Twelve Years of Water Quality Monitoring in Little Lagoon, Weeks Bay NERR Monitoring Activities, AWW Water Monitoring Parameters

2019
September 4, 2019: Agenda, Minutes, Presentation
May 8, 2019: Agenda, Minutes, Presentation
March 13, 2019: Agenda, Minutes, Presentation


Reimbursement Request Form
Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring: How-to Guide for Coastal Alabama

Archive (2012-2018)