Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance Activities & Volunteer Opportunities

Spring is here and Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance (CBA) is hopping all around our watershed!

The CBA has a robust agenda of activities for the spring season, dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of our watershed.  There are upcoming field trips with local children, extensive water monitoring, and new outreach programs and events for you to be a part of. Time spent outdoors, giving back, supporting our local environment - it doesn't get any better!

More from Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance Spring endeavors:

Our water quality monitoring program continues to make great strides forward in gathering data to support our local environment. With the addition of three new stations at Mullet Creek near Choctaw Beach, dedicated volunteers and CBA staff now monitor 140 water quality stations across our watershed.

Recently, CBA staff and OysterCorps kicked off the seagrass planting phase of our novel, exciting "SAVing the Bay" program. We did pre-monitoring at our eventual planting sites to assess existing seagrass abundance, water quality parameters, and site conditions. In addition, we prepared the submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) being grown in the classroom Restoration Stations for planting by collecting plant tissue for study. The SAV tissue is sent to a lab pre and post restoration to measure Nitrogen uptake. Nitrogen is an essential part of our water's make up; however, when in excess from things like stormwater runoff, Nitrogen throw off balance of the ecosystem at hand. Seagrasses are a natural and helpful buffer, reducing nitrogen loads while stabilizing sand and sediment and proving great habitat for wildlife. Two more sites around our watershed, Florida Park in Valparaiso and Cessna Park in Santa Rosa Beach, will be a part of this program later in March. Stay tuned as this neat program progresses!

Our Scientist Social will take place on April 30th - an evening to appreciate our water quality monitors with drinks, giveaways, and a little bit of learning! Please RSVP to Kayla at wingardk@nwfsc.edu. A big thank you and shoutout to Distillery 98 has generously offered their space to host the Scientist Social!

Did you know our CBA monitoring team assists with wildlife research? A unique brackish water animal, called a terrapin, shares our waterways and will begin their nesting season next month. Volunteers in our area are monitoring for Diamondback Terrapins, their tracks and shells to fill gap in scientific literature - very little is known about their population in the panhandle. Have you seen one, its tracks, or shells? Let us know! Email Kayla at wingardk@nwfsc.edu. Photo credit: Mary O'Connor.

CBA Restoration made a national appearance - this time on National Public Radio (NPR)! Dive into this special content here.

Education and Outreach: SHOALS (Students Helping Oysters and Living Shorelines) is underway with Fort Walton Beach High School, Crestview High School, Freeport High School, South Walton Academy, and Seacoast Collegiate High School. In January, the CBA Education team brought "SAVing the Bay" program into these schools, who received "Restoration Station" grow shelves pictured above. Students learned how submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) helps with water quality and how to grow and care for them in their classroom. They are currently growing wigeon grass, Ruppia maritima, in coir mats in aquarium tanks. Students will embark on a field trip to plant these mats in public parks around Choctawhatchee Bay to help filter stormwater runoff.

This month, the CBA Education team hosted our very first Watershed Connections outreach event, a new series that offers opportunities for adults (and family) to learn more about our watershed. Attendees to “Secret Life of Creeks” with guest speaker Jeff Van Vrancken met at Anderson Pond on the Eglin Reservation to learne about how restoring the impounded creek at this recreation area helped bring the Okaloosa Darter off the endangered species list.

Our second Watershed Connections outreach event is scheduled for May 2nd at Deer Lake State Park with guest speaker Jeff Talbert, Project Manager with the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. The title is “Wonderful World of Wetlands” and participants will learn about how fire suppressed wetlands at Deer Lake State Park are being restored. More details and registration are coming soon; email Amanda at brianta@nwfsc.edu.

We need Grasses in Classes field trip volunteers asap. Fill out the survey to express your interest and availability! 

This year, we will be cohosting our Earth Day Cleanup at June Decker Park in Destin with the City of Destin crew. Come join us!