Choctawhatchee Bay Unpaved Roads Initiative
Implementing Organization
State of Florida
Overview
DWH Project Funding
$17,277,000
Known Leveraged Funding
$0
Funding Organization
Natural Resource Damage Assessment Trustees (NRDA)
Funding Program
Natural Resource Damage Assessment NRDA
Details
Project Category
Environmental
Project Actions
Water Quality Restoration and Maintenance
Targeted Resources
Wetlands/Marshes/Estuaries
Project Description
This project will be implemented in coordination with Washington and Holmes Counties. This project will construct and implement road enhancements at 12 sites that were designed and permitted through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation-Gulf Environment Benefit Fund (NFWF-GEBF) Water Quality Improvements to Enhance Fisheries Habitat in the Lower Choctawhatchee River Basin – Phase 1 project. Specifically, this project will: • Implement roadway improvements including adjusting the elevation profile of the road or installing road sub-bases and paving the roadway near a crossing. • Implement drainage improvements including installing/replacing culverts and stabilizing ditches and shoulders. Unpaved roads cause significant erosion and sediment loading to nearshore water bodies. Sediment can interfere with downstream growth and development of algae, phytoplankton, and submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) by absorbing or scattering solar radiation needed for photosynthesis. In 2007, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) conducted the Northwest Florida County-Maintained Unpaved Road-Stream Crossings Inventory and identified 2,777 unpaved road and stormwater drainage crossings on county-maintained roads in 16 northwest Florida counties. Results found that the Choctawhatchee Bay watershed had the largest number of unpaved, county-maintained roads in northwest Florida, with over 2,000 unpaved road sites in Walton, Holmes, and Washington Counties. This project will include the implementation phase of the planning, engineering and design (E&D), and permitting work conducted under the NFWF-GEBF Phase 1 project. Unpaved roadways in the Choct...click on "More Info" link below
Contact
Pearce Barrett(850) 245-2106
pearce.barrett@floridadep.gov
Project Website
None
For official trustee information regarding the Deepwater Horizon NRDA, including information regarding the NRDA process and the status of projects, see https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/