Gov. Kay Ivey announced Thursday that more than $52 million will fund 21 Alabama GoMESA projects aimed at recreation, water access, environmental improvements and other projects across the state’s Gulf Coast.
The new round of funding includes a $9 million award for the next phase of Mobile’s Brookley by the Bay project, the largest individual allocation announced Thursday.
Three projects will receive $5 million each: the Alabama Port Authority’s Upper Mobile Bay Wetlands Creation project, Mobile County’s Byrnewood Boat Ramp and Public Access project and construction of the Jubilee Recreation and Fishing Pier at Daphne’s Bayfront Park.
Other major awards include $3 million for an outdoor classroom at the University of South Alabama, $2.95 million for renovations to the Boggy Point Boat Launch and $2.5 million each for Fairhope’s Flying Creek Nature Preserve, improvements at Weeks Bay Reserve and Walter Cofield Park and Boat Launch in Saraland.
“Alabama’s coast is one of our state’s greatest treasures, and we have a responsibility to protect it while ensuring Alabamians and our visitors can enjoy all it has to offer,” Ivey said.
“These investments will strengthen our coastal communities, improve access to our waterways and preserve the natural resources that support jobs, tourism and our way of life.”
The Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act, or GoMESA, directs a share of federal offshore oil and gas revenues to Alabama and the other Gulf-producing states. Alabama’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources administers the state’s share with approval from the Governor’s Office. Mobile and Baldwin counties also receive separate federal GoMESA distributions.
Ivey said her administration has now awarded more than $310 million through the program.
The latest awards also include funding for projects in Dauphin Island, Magnolia Springs, Semmes, Elberta, Orange Beach, Bay Minette, Perdido Beach, Chickasaw and Bayou La Batre, as well as water quality and wastewater infrastructure initiatives.
“GoMESA projects announced today continue a long list of important environmental and quality of life improvements in Coastal Alabama,” Conservation Commissioner Chris Blankenship said.
The announcement comes one week after an August 12 federal Gulf lease sale generated nearly $83 million from bids on 59 blocks of federal waters.
Sawyer Knowles is a state and political reporter for Yellowhammer News. You may contact him at [email protected].
