Abstract
Since the 1970s, excessive erosion and sedimentation have plagued D’Olive Watershed. This “system in peril” has some of the highest sediment rates ever measured by GSA. Compounding the problem, D’Olive Watershed lies within Baldwin County, the fastest-growing county in Alabama. Therefore, the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program (MBNEP) led an initiative to restore D’Olive and realize the exponentially lower cost over a do-nothing approach. This approach included a 2010 Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan, which defined the primary objectives, identified immediate needs, and prioritized opportunities. MBNEP, The Cities of Daphne and Spanish Fort, Baldwin County, Alabama Department of Transportation, and many other public and private entities rose to the challenge. One of the priorities was to “stop the bleed” of massive sediment loss from the many highly entrenched streams threatening every form of infrastructure. MBNEP put forth a “landscape-scale restoration” project for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund (NFWF-GEBF). MNBEP received $12 million in NFWF-GEBF and leveraged additional funding to provide $16 million in stream stabilization enhancements in the watershed. This project has resulted in over 11,000-linear feet of stream restoration, with an associated riparian area of over 25-acres. Although individual projects had similar goals and objectives, their implementation varied considerably. On each project, MBNEP seeks to learn, improve, and build community organizational capacity for sound resource management. This presentation will discuss the designs, challenges, opportunities, and successes of this restoration project from a contractor/engineer’s perspective.
