City Awarded $500K Green Stormwater Infrastructure Grant from FDEP

The City of Pensacola has been awarded a $500,000 grant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's Green Stormwater Infrastructure Program, which will allow the city to incorporate green infrastructure concepts into a flood mitigation project on Barrancas Avenue, continuing the city's ongoing efforts to improve water quality of local waterways. 

The city will use this funding to implement environmental features in the flood mitigation project that will ultimately reduce the flow of pollutants into the environmentally-sensitive Bayou Chico, which will help maintain a cleaner and healthier bayou. 

"I am so proud of our Public Works and Engineering staff for pursuing this grant opportunity and successfully securing this vital funding for the City of Pensacola," Mayor Grover Robinson said. "To be awarded a grant of this magnitude is no small feat, and I am especially excited that the money will help us implement stormwater concepts that support our ongoing efforts to be a greener, more environmentally-conscious city."

Through the grant award, the city's project will be part of a Green Stormwater Infrastructure Case Study with FDEP, which will help collect data to develop future case studies on green stormwater infrastructure in Florida. 

The Barrancas Avenue Flood Mitigation Project will incorporate green infrastructure concepts by providing treatment of stormwater through the installation of bioretention cells along the right of way of Barrancas Avenue, which will not only provide stormwater benefits, but also enhance aesthetics along the roadway through landscaping.
 
These cells will be designed to capture stormwater from Barrancas Avenue along with adjoining properties, with native plant landscaping to help slow waterflow and assist in reducing pollutant levels in stormwater runoff. This stormwater runoff would otherwise discharge to local waterways like Bayou Chico, ultimately entering Pensacola Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. 

"We are very grateful to FDEP for this grant award and the opportunity to help lay the groundwork for future case studies on green stormwater infrastructure throughout the state of Florida," City Engineer Brad Hinote said. "This project is just one example of the city's aggressive efforts to address regional stormwater impacts as part of our Stormwater Master Plan, and we look forward to continuing to work to improve our local waterways and environment." 

This grant application effort was led by City of Pensacola Sustainability Coordinator Mark Jackson, with significant contributions from City Engineer Brad Hinote and Engineering Specialist Chris Mauldin.