Pensacola & Perdido Bays have long dealt with pollution. How a federal designation can help

Pensacola & Perdido Bays Estuary Program, a group dedicated to preserving local waterways, is getting a rare designation from the U.S. government that not only recognizes the organization’s work but it’s already opening millions of dollars in federal funding opportunities.

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio introduced legislation to designate Pensacola & Perdido Bays Estuary Program (PPBEP) a national estuary program and in March it unanimously passed the U.S. Senate. What does that mean? Experts say it’s a big deal. There are only 28 other national estuary programs in the country, and this is the first one created in 30 years.

More importantly, the designation would create a designated funding source for operations as well as implementing big, regional projects.

“It really puts our area in a prioritized category for future federal grant opportunities that focus on these coastal resilience projects,” said PPBEP Executive Director Matt Posner. “We've already seen significant federal and state investments to the program and to the region as a result.”

PPBEP, formed in 2018, serves as a coordinating body across the Pensacola Bay and Perdido Bay watersheds, which covers an area from Orange Beach, Alabama, to Okaloosa County, Florida, and the counties in between.

Members of the group, including scientists, state and federal experts, and local elected leaders, work together across the area to improve water quality, habitat conditions, and community and coastal resilience across the region.

Just this last year, PPBEP received several different grants from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), including an $11 million grant focused on the estuary’s oyster restoration initiative for Pensacola Bay.

Area oysters are in “critical decline” due to a variety of factors including a decline in water quality, increased sedimentation in bays from stormwater runoff and over harvesting.

According to Posner, Northwest Florida has lost 85% to 90% of the historic oyster habitat that once thrived here. In fact, local bays and waterways once produced 10% of the total oyster harvest in Florida, with the majority being harvested from Apalachicola Bay.

The $11 million NOAA grant will help the estuary program reach its 10-year goal of restoring nearly 1,500 acres of oyster habitat in the Pensacola Bay area, which also includes East Bay, Blackwater Bay and Escambia Bay.

Permitting and design work will soon get underway on what is currently the largest oyster restoration project on the Gulf Coast, across all five Gulf states. They hope to see the results implemented by 2026.

“We want to be able to bring that back for all the ecosystem services oysters provide,” said Posner. “Water filtration improves water quality and water clarity. It provides significant habitat value for other fish and shellfish, which are critically important for recreational fishing and the economy.”

Healthy bays, waterways, and coastlines are good for the environment and business, Posner said, pointing to American Magic coming to Pensacola and bringing high-wage jobs, not to mention visitors. The city is building a new $15 million Center for Maritime Excellence at the Port of Pensacola that will serve as the training headquarters for the New York Yacht Club American Magic sail racing team.

Posner said a study by Florida State University of the economic impact of Pensacola Bay on the area showed it supports 100,000 jobs each year and $8 billion a year is tied to the health and resilience of the bay.

“The economy and environment go hand in hand, so the more we can focus on water quality improvement and habitat restoration, we'll continue to see and support the tourism economy that we have here,” Posner explained.

Success and challenges in addressing local water quality and enhancing marine life growth were recently discussed at the PPBEP’s annual conference held at Sanders Beach Community Center, the first week in April.

Escambia County’s senior scientist, Chips Kirschenfeld, attended the conference. He shared the county’s success with an oyster restoration project developed for Pensacola Bay and East Bay.

Kirschenfeld said the county worked with The Nature Conservancy to create a living shoreline project seven miles long on the north side of East Bay. East Bay oysters were once a delicacy, but the population died out. The goal is to restore that population and establish an active fishery. It’s been an important project for the PPBEP.

“It’s doing very well, but in the future, recycled oyster shells are going to be dispersed throughout East Bay to establish hard bottom,” explained Kirschenfeld. “They'll be submerged. You won't be able to see them, but instead of the sandy or mucky sediment we'll have enough oyster shell there to reestablish that reef the oysters need for colonization.”

PPBEP is tackling the combination of legacy and modern pollution problems that have impacted the area with their own projects as well as in partnership with local leaders, environmental groups, and citizens.

That includes engaging the community in oyster restoration in a variety of ways like recruiting volunteers among recreational fishermen, harvesters, and people in aquaculture to help, as well as rolling out programs that enlist citizens to help with habitat growth off their waterfront properties with oyster stringers and other methods that encourage living shorelines.

“We're all working toward the same goal here, and that's to have a quality of life that we can continue to sustain for the next generation,” said Logan McDonald, PPBEP community outreach coordinator. “When we really focus on that central message and we understand that everybody has a role here, it makes it that much easier to bring in these resources and to address these legacy problems that we have.”

Escambia County District 2 Commissioner Mike Kohler deals with some of those legacy problems regularly. From septic tanks to wastewater runoff, most local waterways are dealing with some level of pollution.

Kohler said the national designation will be a huge help in funding several multi-million projects aimed at cleaning up, like creating another living shoreline around NAS Pensacola. He said that project alone cost $35 million and is expected to start soon. He also has about $12 million to help address contaminated areas in Bayou Chico.

Besides boosting individual projects, he said the national estuary designation will provide an additional $750,000, plus they’ll be eligible for more grants.

“I think it’s good,” said Kohler. “It's important for all of us, the water quality, because we've gotten some bad press on our drinking water over the years, but for me, I'm committed to the water environment in this county.”

The legislation designating Pensacola & Perdido Bays Estuary Program a national estuary program must still pass the U.S. House of Representatives, but supporters are optimistic it will.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola and Perdido Bays get federal funding to stop pollution