Mayor Reeves: Grant will ‘improve the overall ecological health’ of Bayou Texar

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection awarded the City of Pensacola $5.12 million in RESTORE funding for the Carpenter Creek Bayou Texar Outfalls Project to help improve Bayou Texar’s water quality and ecological health through the addition of five advanced stormwater treatment measures along the bayou.

The funding is in addition to the $830,000 that the city received on Oct. 9 to design, engineer and permit advanced stormwater treatment measures that will remove debris and floatables at the five outfalls before the pollutants enter the bayou — enhancing the water quality and connected waterways. With notification from FDEP of the $5.12 million award to complete the project’s implementation phase, the city has been granted a total of $5.95 million for the Carpenter Creek Bayou Texar Outfalls Project.

“This is a project that the city has worked on for many years prior to my tenure as mayor,” Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves said. “Receiving the funds for planning and being awarded the funds for implementation is a significant milestone for residents, as Carpenter Creek and Bayou Texar are vital waterways for our community.”

The treatment measures installed through this project will collect stormwater runoff from approximately 40 acres of densely populated Bayou Texar watershed and trap sediment, trash, oils, greases and other pollutants inside. This process will lead to cleaner water being discharged into Bayou Texar and Pensacola Bay.

At the press conference, Mayor Reeves said, “This is a $5.9 million project designed to improve the overall ecological health of the bayou, so very, very good news.”

The stormwater treatment measures will be added at the following locations along Bayou Texar:

Gadsden Street
East Gonzalez Street
West Gonzalez Street
Cove Road
Hyde Park

Implementation funding through FDEP’s RESTORE program is expected to be finalized in early 2025.

Photo Licensed under the Unsplash+ License

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1 thought on “Mayor Reeves: Grant will ‘improve the overall ecological health’ of Bayou Texar

  1. Many thanks to Sherri Myers for many years of work that preceded these grants! Without her persistent efforts and outreach to citizens in our city, we would continue to live with the degraded environment along Carpenter’s Creek and neighborhoods leading to Bayou Texar and the Bayou itself. This can be the beginning of transforming this area into a premier enhancement for outdoor activities including hiking, bird watching, and possibly safely entering the water at Bayou Texar. Thank you Sherri!

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