The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on Monday that it will award the City a $1.5 million Emergency Watershed Protection Program grant to complete work related to debris removal and erosion abatement within Baywoods Gully. The money comes in addition to the $1,179,000 that the USDA awarded the City last year to repair damage and improve erosion control measures in Carpenter Creek and Baywoods Gully.
The erosion mitigation work will minimize property owners’ exposure to hazardous conditions posed by slope failures that were caused by the April 2014 storm event. It will also reduce the volume of sediment that flows into Escambia Bay, thereby providing a long term improvement to water quality and shoreline habitat.
“City residents have made it known that enhancing stormwater infrastructure is a top priority for them,†said Mayor Hayward. “This latest award is another example of how my staff has responded to that priority by leaving no stone unturned when it comes to finding funding for those enhancements. It’s a testament to their hard work that even as the level of federal funding drops, they have successfully made the case for our projects