If you have local knowledge about land use, surface waters (e.g. stormwater, water quality, flows) and drainage to the Alabama-West Florida coast, you are invited to a stakeholder engagement meeting from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Friday, May 17, at the 5 Rivers Delta Resource Center in Spanish Fort, Alabama. Scientists and attendees will discuss the role of stormwater drainage on tidal creeks along the northern Gulf of Mexico. The discussion will help shape a new research study.
Representatives from local municipalities, government agencies, academic institutions, planning/engineering firms and others are encouraged to attend.
The meeting is for individuals already involved with local watershed efforts in the area who can comment on prospective creeks for the study, identify how study results might better inform watershed planning and improve stormwater management, and indicate their interest to potentially use study results for tidal creek enhancement.
Auburn University’s Chris Anderson, an associate professor of wetland ecology, will introduce the project, which will investigate the effects of runoff on tidal creek systems (including fringing salt marshes) and the habitats they provide for fish.
The research team will provide an overview of relevant past research and the status of its current study including project goals, study approach and creeks that are being considered. The creeks represent a range of land uses/covers in their drainage areas: from highly urbanized to entirely forest.
Discussion will include strategies for using this research for better management of local watersheds and potential restoration efforts.
A significant portion of the meeting time will be set aside for interaction among participants. We encourage representatives attend from a variety of organizations including local municipalities, government agencies, academic institutions, and planning/engineering firms among others.
This meeting and the research project it will support are sponsored by the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium in collaboration with Auburn University. The Weeks Bay Coastal Training Program is also assisting with the stakeholder input meeting.
For more information or to register, click here.
You can also contact Eric Sparks at eric.sparks@msstate.edu for more information.
Deadline for registration is May 10, and space is limited.