Alabama Clean Marina Coordinator Laura Bowie, right, on June 18 presents Mobile County Parks and Wildlife Manager Ron Jones with the Clean Marina flag. River Delta Marina, a county-owned marina in Creola, Ala., was designated as a clean marina for implementing practices that improve water quality at the marina. The Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium coordinates the program with help from Auburn Marine Extension and Research Center, Mobile Bay National Estuary Program, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Coastal Section and Alabama Department of Environmental Management.
River Delta Marina Parks Operation Coordinator John Rabbeitt, left, Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium Director LaDon Swann, Mobile County Commissioners Mike Dean and Merceria Ludgood and Mobile County Parks and Wildlife Manager Ron Jones on June 18 in Creola, Ala., recognize River Delta Marina as a Clean Marina for its dedication to improving the quality of local waterways.
CREOLA, Ala. – Mobile County’s River Delta Marina on June 18 became the state’s first new Clean Marina since Hurricane Ivan struck in 2004. The designation recognizes the marina for its work to incorporate best management practices into its daily operations to improve water, air and land quality.
Some practices at the River Delta Marina that helped it become a Clean Marina included eliminating septic systems and installing a central sanitary system, using natural shorelines with vegetation to help control erosion, using pervious parking surfaces to allow stormwater to infiltrate the ground rather than run off into the marina basin and locating the fish cleaning station away from the water to keep fish scraps and wash water out of the marina basin.
There are 11 state Clean Marina programs in the United States. Nationwide, about 300 marinas have been certified over the last 12 years. The Clean Marina Program in Alabama was launched in 2004 and has pledges from about a half dozen marinas interested in working toward their own Clean Marina certification.
River Delta Marina is the fourth Clean Marina in the Alabama program. Other Clean Marinas include Zeke’s Landing Marina in Orange Beach, Dog River Marina in Mobile and Harbor Pointe Marina in Dadeville.
The Clean Marina Program is coordinated by the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium with help from Auburn Marine Extension & Research Center, Mobile Bay National Estuary Program, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Coastal Section and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management.