Posted on October 21, 2024
MOBILE, Ala. – Born in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District’s Coastal Resiliency Program has grown from those beginnings to include coastal Mississippi, Alabama, and the Florida Panhandle.
Formerly known as the Mississippi Coastal Improvement Program, MsCIP, the Coastal Resiliency Program has successfully worked with the state of Mississippi to develop comprehensive plans and implementable projects that further aided the Mississippi Gulf Coast with post-Katrina recovery, environmental restoration, and reduction of future damages and loss of life from hurricanes and storm events.
Now, the program is primed to bring those same services and results to an expanded area of operation, adding Alabama and Florida to its area of responsibility.
“The program has evolved to include efforts in coastal Mississippi, Alabama, and the Florida Panhandle,” said David Newell, Coastal Resiliency Program manager. “Additionally, the program has worked to facilitate the meaningful inclusion of regional sediment management and nature-based features into our projects, which has helped the Mobile District gain recognition as Regional Sediment Management Implementation champion and Engineering with Nature proving ground.”
In 2022, the Coastal Resiliency Program completed its largest project to date: strengthening and repairing the barrier islands off the coast of Mississippi.
The program will now expand that completed work to include Alabama and Florida and strengthen those areas.
“In addition to monitoring and adaptive management of the barrier islands in Mississippi, design is underway for the Coast-wide Beach and Dune Ecosystem Restoration in all three coastal counties of Mississippi,” Newell said. “We are also working with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation on a study at Little Dauphin Island, Alabama, and in the fall, we expect to begin a design of Coastal Storm Risk Management Projects in Okaloosa and Walton County, Florida, along with an important Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Project in Choctawhatchee Bay, Florida.”
Mobile District’s Coastal Resiliency Program team is a matrix organization that includes members from the Engineering, Planning, Operations, Real Estate, and Project Management Divisions. The program leads are Newell, Valerie Morrow, Engineering Technical Lead; Elizabeth Godsey, Lead Coastal Engineer; Don Mroczko, Lead Environmental Planner; and Barry Dailey, Special Projects Manager.
Morrow said the team works together to achieve all of its goals.
“We are a collaborative group that has representation from Planning, Project Management, Environmental, Engineering, and Operations working together to achieve a common goal,” Morrow said. “Each division has representatives to champion program priorities. As the Engineering Technical Lead for the program, I am the liaison between the designer and other team members to ensure that quality projects are delivered on time and budget.”
Morrow, who has been involved with the program since 2021, is excited about its future.
“I love being a part of a high-performing team that collaborates with non-federal sponsors and stakeholders to complete implementable projects that provide habitat and improve resiliency along the Gulf Coast,” Morrow said. “I am excited to expand our portfolio of projects into Florida with the upcoming work in Okaloosa and Walton Counties.”
Newell said his team’s current focus is executing the former MsCIP Projects included in the FY 2022 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. He said the team’s goal, as always, is to deliver a quality product while preserving and protecting the environment.
“Last year, we entered into Design Agreements with all three coastal counties in Mississippi and are well underway on design,” Newell said. “The project includes beach and dune restoration of more than 30 miles of the Mississippi Coast at an estimated construction cost of about $100 million. Our goal is to deliver vital engineering solutions, in collaboration with our partners, that reduce the risk to our coastlines and nearshore communities while increasing community resilience and preserving and protecting the habitat.”
David Newell, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District Coastal Resiliency Program manager, points out the details of a current project as Don Mroczko, Lead Environmental planner and Julie McGuire, economist, look on at the Mobile District Office, Mobile, Alabama, July 23, 2024. The Coastal Resiliency Program is currently working on a $100 million project to restore the beach and dunes along 30 miles of the Mississippi Coast.
