Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey announced that the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) has awarded nearly $26 million from the Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund (GEBF) to four new projects in Alabama.

The projects, developed in consultation with state and federal resource agencies, are designed to remedy harm and reduce the risk of future harm to natural resources that were affected by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The Alabama projects address high-priority conservation needs, including the protection of important habitats.

NFWF created the fund in 2013 to receive and administer resources resulting from remedial orders in plea agreements between the U.S. Department of Justice, BP and Transocean.

The number of awards from the fund in Alabama now stands at 38, with a total value of nearly $241 million. All projects were selected for funding following extensive consultation with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR).

“These projects represent a continuation of Alabama’s coastal recovery from the 2010 BP oil spill,” Ivey said. “They will restore some of what was damaged, while at the same time making our coastal communities more resilient. I thank our partners at NFWF and ADCNR for their continued diligence in leading this effort.”

“This is a strong slate of projects,” ADCNR Commissioner Chris Blankenship said. “Among them, the Dauphin Island Causeway project is an example of multiple agencies working together to restore Alabama coastal habitat and at the same time create resiliency in our coastal community. Mobile County, with support from Mobile Bay NEP (National Estuary Program), is doing an excellent job leading this project. ADCNR is pleased and excited with this team effort making the most of this opportunity to protect and manage Alabama’s natural resources. We are appreciative of the work to implement all these valuable projects for the betterment of Coastal Alabama.”

Money from the National Fish and Wildife Foundation’s Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund will pay for additional restoration to the Dauphin Island Causeway. (contributed)

The funded projects and amounts are:

• Dauphin Island Causeway Shoreline and Habitat Restoration Project – Phase II, $18,970,000

This project will design and install breakwater and create intertidal marsh habitat while providing protection against future erosion and storm damage. In the April Phase I of this project, a $9,392,000 award was funded to create and protect important coastal habitat, reducing vulnerability of the only access route between south Mobile County and Dauphin Island. Project activities will be co-funded through NFWF’s Emergency Coastal Resilience Fund. The Emergency Coastal Resilience Fund will provide an additional $4.9 million toward the Dauphin Island Causeway Shoreline and Habitat Restoration Project.

• Bon Secour River Headwaters Restoration – Phase II, $5,100,000

This award supports the implementation phase of an effort to improve about 1 mile of stream bank and construct a 70-acre wetland system to treat urban runoff that is adversely affecting downstream fisheries. The constructed wetlands will address nutrient, sediment and debris flow to improve water quality in the lower Bon Secour River and Bon Secour Bay. This section of the Bon Secour River encompasses major headwaters and the main channel of the Bon Secour River immediately downstream from Foley.

• Dauphin Island East End Beach and Dune Restoration – $1,400,000

This project will complete engineering, design and permitting for the restoration of nearly 1 mile of beach and dune habitat on the east end of Dauphin Island. The initial project concept is to place an estimated 1.2 million cubic yards of sand along 4,800 feet of shoreline to restore 35 acres of beach and dune habitat. Additional measures, such as planting and sand fencing, would be included as appropriate to assist in retaining sand on the restored beach and dune system. In 2016, the town completed the first phase of this priority beach restoration project using Coastal Impact Assistance Program funds.

• Wolf Creek Headwaters Restoration – Phase I, $500,000

This project will complete engineering and design of a project to improve water quality within the Wolf Creek headwaters. This project area is the largest source of artificially high sediment runoff to Wolf Bay, an Outstanding Alabama Water. The project would consist of about 7,000 linear feet of stream restoration/stabilization, 36 acres of riparian wetland restoration, and a constructed wetland with floodplain enhancement encompassing the major headwaters of Wolf Creek. The headwaters restoration, stabilization, floodplain and wetland enhancement will reduce pollutant and stormwater impacts to Wolf Bay from development in the city of Foley over the past two decades.

For more information on coastal restoration projects in Alabama from all Deepwater Horizon funding sources, visit https://www.alabamacoastalrestoration.org/.