Mud cannons and wave screens being used to protect Fowl River marshes

THEODORE, Ala. ( WKRG ) — Environmentalists, engineers, and the community are coming together to restore 50 acres of marshland on Fowl River that has been sinking and degrading over the years.

“The water level is rising and is drowning these spits, it is adding more salt water to what is a brackish water system, and boat wakes from recreational traffic is impacting them as well,” said Jason Kudulis, the restoration program lead for Mobile Bay NEP.

Before work could even start, environmentalists spent years studying the marshes to come up with the best plan of action to save the marshes, but also not harm what is still there. The goal is to make the solution as close to nature as possible.

This includes a couple of innovative techniques. The first are mud cannons. They use mud that has been dredged up from the Mobile River and spray it onto the marshes to build them back up to where they were 20 to 25 years ago.

They are also installing wave screen. Instead of using concrete and rock, which is what has been used in the past, they came up with a more natural solution – timber.

“Those are out there to break that wave energy down, but also allow for fish passage and other animals to get in and out of it,” explained Chris Warn with the Environmental Science Association.

These techniques took over eight years of development and are being used for the first time in here in coastal Alabama. The construction will take one to two years, and then the marshes will be monitored and adjusted if needed for five more years.

Everyone who has worked on this project for the last decade says that there is a great sense of pride in the way that they work with the community to engineer with nature to protect Fowl River. Now, we can this area for years and years to come.

If you are enjoying Fowl River while this project is underway, just be careful. You will notice construction activity, crews, and equipment. Also be on the lookout for temporary no wake zones.

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