Projects to help restore streams in Phenix City and Prichard will benefit from new grants through the Five Star Restoration program, Alabama Power announced today. 

“Five Star Restoration is just one element of Alabama Power’s commitment to work with diverse partners to conserve our state’s important natural resources,” said Matt Bowden, the company’s vice president for Environmental Affairs.

Alabama Power participates in the Five Star Restoration program as part of Southern Company’s partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Association of Counties and the Wildlife Habitat Council. Alabama Power is a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Southern Company. 

“This year’s Five Star Restoration grants will help citizens implement important conservation projects in their communities. They’ll also foster ongoing environmental stewardship,” said Jeff Trandahl, NFWF executive director and CEO. “We’re pleased to support a program that unites the best efforts of public, private and corporate funders.”

“The Five Star Restoration program in the Southeast is an excellent example of building partnerships, empowering communities and restoring our natural resources,” said EPA Regional Administrator Gwen Keyes Fleming. “This program brings together students, conservation corps, other youth groups, citizen groups, corporations, landowners and government agencies to provide environmental education and training through projects that restore wetlands and streams.”

In Phenix City, a $39,100 grant awarded to Auburn University and partners will be used to stabilize 500 feet of extremely eroded stream banks along Holland Creek, near the mouth of the Chattahoochee River. The restoration project will include improvements to help slow the flow of water in the creek, which has contributed to the erosion and to the deterioration of water quality.

 “We’re thrilled about the grant,” said Katie Dylewski, a water program specialist at Auburn University who works with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, which is also a partner on the project. She said the project is taking place in a highly visible area, upstream from a public amphitheater and other facilities near downtown Phenix City.
 

“We see this as a stepping stone for more environmental improvements that will benefit Holland Creek and the Mill Creek watershed,” Dylewski said. Public tours, workshops and training sessions at the site over the next two years will help build awareness and boost local involvement in environmental stewardship. Other partners include the Alabama Clean Water Partnership, Phenix City, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM), the Mill Creek Watershed Project, and Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood Inc.

In Prichard, a $22,955 grant awarded to the Marine Environmental Sciences Consortium will help restore an unnamed tributary of Chickasaw Creek adjacent to Reading Park. The project will involve removing sediment from a 350-foot section of the tributary to restore the natural flow of the waterway. Native plantings and other improvements will help restore habitat in and along the tributary.

“We’re so excited,” said Roberta Swann, director of the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program, a partner in the Prichard grant. She said the project not only will help improve water quality in Chickasaw Creek and the Eight Mile Creek watershed, it will also encourage more people to engage in local environmental projects.  

“Reading Park is a place to get outside and get connected to nature,” Swann said. “This project will restore the creek to its natural condition, enhancing the park’s features while demonstrating how city neighborhoods can work together to reclaim their environment and community.” Also partnering on the project are the city of Prichard, Mobile County Soil and Water Conservation District, Coastal Alabama Clean Water Partnership, ADEM, Prichard Environmental Restorative Keepers, Mobile Baykeeper and Auburn University.

Five Star Restoration is one of three major environmental stewardship programs sponsored by Alabama Power and Southern Company in partnership with NFWF. In addition, the partnership supports projects to conserve birds and bird habitats in the South through Power of Flight and to restore the South's longleaf pine ecosystem through Longleaf Legacy.

Southern Company this year is contributing $190,704 toward grants that, combined with partner matching funds, will provide $503,543 to help restore wetlands, streams and stream banks across the four states where the company’s retail business operates. Since 2006, Southern Company has contributed $1.2 million to 57 Five Star Restoration grants that will result in a conservation impact of $4.8 million to restore nearly 550 acres of wetlands and more than 50,000 feet of streams and streamside habitat.

Alabama Power and Alabama Power employee volunteers work across the state on environmental stewardship projects designed to protect and enhance the state’s important habitats and natural beauty. To learn more about Alabama Power’s environmental commitment, please visit www.alabamapower.com and click on “Environment.”