St. Andrews & St. Joseph Bay’s Estuary Program hopes to attain NOAA grant

BAY COUNTY, Fla. ( WMBB ) – St. Andrews and St. Joseph Bay’s Estuary Program is hoping to receive a $677,000 NOAA grant to reduce pollution of local waterways.

The money will go to install 60 Enviropod LittaTraps in stormwater drains to stop debris.

“It’s like a basket that’s installed so you won’t see it from the roadway. But then you’ll be able to lift up that stormwater drain and be able to access it that way. And then you can lift them up very simply and put them out and filter through and get all of the single-use plastics and other debris out of the way,” Executive Director of SASJB Estuary Program Jessica Graham said.

The traps will be placed in Panama City Beach, Parker, Lynn Haven, and Panama City, protecting critical habitats like seagrass beds and wetlands.

“Seagrasses need light to photosynthesize and grow, and so when we have really cloudy water that can impact the water clarity and maybe impact the seagrass survival,” Estuary Scientist Ryann Rossi said.

The problem got worse after Hurricane Michael decreased tree cover. That increased stormwater, carrying more man-made debris.

“When you have more stormwater, you have a lot more runoff. And so it’s going to take with it a lot more and when you have more volume, you have a higher velocity as well. So it’s harder for some of the debris and sediment to be able to filter out before it hits the bay,” Graham said.

Rossi says if the issue goes unsolved, it can also cause flooding.

“Stormwater is one of the things we hear about very often, especially flooding from it. When our stormwater drains get clogged, that can contribute to localized flooding,” Rossi said.

Educating the public is also crucial to the mission.

Local artists will create murals on storm drains like these to encourage the community to prevent debris from entering the bay.

The community outreach will include estuary program materials in English and Spanish. The drain will be marked with “No dumping” signage. And the program will host community cleanups.

The estuary program hopes to have the grant by next month, order the LittaTraps by the end of the year, and install them by the end of 2025.

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