DAPHNE, Ala. – A pilot project addressing erosion along the banks of Joe’s Branch can begin now that funding is in place. The Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) on Monday, Jan. 30, awarded a $650,000 grant, which is being paired with an additional $200,000 from the Alabama Department of Transportation to restore a portion of the tributary in order to return habitat and reduce the force of water as it flows downstream.

The branch was earlier identified as a source of sediment entering D’Olive Creek and eventually Mobile Bay. In 2008, Joe’s Branch was placed by ADEM on the 303(d) List of Impaired Waters due to siltation. The 660-acre watershed is classified by the state as being highly developed and urban.

“This is an important project for Baldwin County and for the state,” said ADEM Director Lance LeFleur. “Because of the rapid growth that has taken place in Baldwin County, we’ve seen tremendous increases in the impervious surfaces that are here. Because of its topography, its soil type and the climate we have here in Baldwin County, there’s a tremendous stormwater management issue that Baldwin County just naturally has. The siltation from D’Olive Creek has resulted in the destruction of more than 1,400 acres of submerged aquatic vegetation.”

Stormwater from ditches and storm drains in a developed area near the Bruno’s supermarket on U.S. Highway 31 in Spanish Fort enters the watershed with such force that it has eroded the branch and carried massive amounts of mud downstream.

The project is expected to slow the runoff and protect the channel itself by replacing dirt and constructing a Step Pool Storm Conveyance system (SPSC), which essentially uses rocks, boulders, sand and wood chips to form “steps” that will alter the water’s path and slow the velocity as it progresses.

Roberta Swann, executive director of the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program, said the project will improve the water quality of Joe's Branch and remove it from the state’s list of endangered water bodies, as well as demonstrate a new technology that improves the management of stormwater runoff while returning the stream to a naturally enhanced, functioning waterway that improves filtration.

She said the project could also increase the awareness of private property owners, both commercial and residential, regarding the various ways to collect and repurpose rainwater, or reduce barriers that make it more difficult for water to be naturally absorbed into the earth. Classes will be offered by MBNEP to educate residents and business owners about what can be done to help.

In addition to the state agencies that are providing funding, the Geological Survey of Alabama and the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources will monitor progress.

“That, I believe, may be unprecedented in this state, to have four state agencies joining their resources together and focusing them in one area to achieve a restoration,” Swann said.

The effort was already a partnership between the cities of Daphne and Spanish Fort, along with the office of U.S. Rep. Jo Bonner (R-Ala.). Officials representing both municipalities worked with the First District congressman to secure the necessary funding to move the project forward.

The condition of Joe’s Branch was initially discovered by Ashley Campbell, Daphne’s environmental project manager, who tracked the source of sediment. Once the streambed is restored, the productivity of adjacent wetlands should improve.

In some places Joe’s Branch is between eight and 10 feet deep, in stark contrast to the normal one-foot depth it should be. The gully is slowly expanding and would have soon undermined the nearby highway.

Construction on the SPSC will take place in part on land owned by Westminster Village, a retirement community located in Spanish Fort. Westminster officials worked with the team, which also includes the Dauphin Island Sea Lab and Baldwin County Commissioner Charles F. “Skip” Gruber, to make the project possible. It should be completed late this summer.