The Mobile Bay National Estuary Program is leading a series of landscape-scale restoration efforts aimed at protecting the ecosystem functions and services that coastal Alabama residents value most, from healthy streams to stable shorelines and marshes.
MBNEP is one of several local entities involved in restoration work across Mobile and Baldwin counties, and it serves as a convener of planning and implementation resources for the region. The organization’s Project Implementation Committee brings together technical experts, funding sources and engineering capacity to apply nature-based solutions that restore and protect priority habitats along Alabama’s coast.
Stream Restoration
Rivers and streams serve as the lifeblood of coastal watersheds, carrying fresh water from upland areas down to estuaries and the Gulf of Mexico. According to data from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, more than 50 stream segments in Mobile and Baldwin counties are currently listed as impaired under Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act, largely due to urban stormwater runoff, sedimentation and nutrient loading.
To address those impairments, MBNEP uses natural channel design, a form of green infrastructure, to restore degraded streams that are contributing to water quality problems through sedimentation and the loss of riparian habitat and wetland function. The organization has completed more than 25 stream restoration projects to date, stabilizing more than four miles of stream across the region.
Projects have been implemented in the D’Olive, Fish, Magnolia River and Three Mile Creek watersheds, with the most significant restoration effort concentrated in the D’Olive Creek watershed. One notable example is the Joe’s Branch stream restoration project, part of the broader work underway in that watershed.
Shoreline and Marsh Restoration
Alabama’s intertidal marshes and flats play a critical role in protecting coastal communities, sustaining water quality and supporting biodiversity. However, these habitats face growing threats from shoreline erosion, shoreline hardening, altered freshwater flows, sea-level rise and habitat fragmentation.
MBNEP has completed four shoreline and marsh restoration projects across coastal Alabama to date. The organization and its partners rely on nature-based solutions along with hybrid engineering and design approaches to stabilize eroding shorelines, increase marsh elevation to enhance resilience, and demonstrate the beneficial use of dredged material to create habitat.
When dredged material is available, MBNEP puts it to use for restoration purposes rather than treating it purely as waste to be disposed of. This practice, known as beneficial use, involves using dredged material for constructive environmental purposes. MBNEP partners with the Port of Mobile, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other technical experts to move material from dredging sites to restoration areas, where it is reused to build and sustain marsh and shoreline habitats. The Deer River Marsh Restoration Project is one example of this approach in action.
A Regional Effort
MBNEP’s work spans both Mobile and Baldwin counties and relies heavily on coordination among government agencies, engineering partners and funding entities to carry out projects at a scale capable of making a measurable difference for coastal ecosystems. The organization notes that restoration sites themselves are not open to the public, though the environmental benefits of healthier streams, shorelines and marshes extend to the wider community through improved water quality and greater resilience along the coast.
As coastal Alabama continues to face pressures from development, stormwater runoff and rising seas, MBNEP’s restoration projects represent an ongoing, multi-year effort to protect the natural systems that underpin both the region’s environment and its economy.