$26 Million Allocated To Local Projects

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation recently awarded nearly $26 million from its Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund to four new projects in Mobile and Baldwin counties, FOX10 reports. The bulk of the funds will go to Dauphin Island, first in Phase II of its Causeway Shoreline and Habitat Restoration Project ($18.970 million). Breakwater and an intertidal marsh habitat will be designed and installed in this phase. The Dauphin Island East End Beach and Dune Restoration ($1.4 million) will complete engineering, design and permitting for the restoration of nearly 1 mi of beach and dune habitat. The second phase of the Bon Secour River Headwaters Restoration ($5.1 million) award supports the implementation phase of an effort to improve approximately 1 mi of streambank and construct a 70-acre wetland system designed to treat urban runoff 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. Finally, Phase I of the Wolf Creek Headwaters Restoration project ($500,000) will complete the engineering and design phase of a project to improve water quality within the Wolf Creek headwaters near Foley. 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 affected by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.