oEPA

Gulf of Mexico Division

Protecting and Preserving
the Gulf of Mexico


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Our Mission

EPA's Gulf of Mexico Division is focused on

the health, productivity and restoration of the
Gulf of Mexico and the communities that rely
on this national resource.




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Table of Contents

Message from the Director	2

Who We Are	3

What We Do	3

Active Investments	4

4 Performance Measures	5

Water Quality	6

Habitat Restoration	8

Environmental Education and Outreach	10

Community Resilience	12

Farmer to Farmer	14

Trash-Free Waters	16

Updates and Events	19

Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource

Damage Assessment and Restoration	20

Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council	21

Senior Environmental Employment (SEE)	22

National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Fellows	23

Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education

(PRISE) Participants	24

EPA Awards	26


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Message from the Director

From its sea life, to its deep blue waters, to its ability to aesthetically please tourists, the Gulf
of Mexico provides vast opportunities to recreate or work. This year's FY 2020 Annual Report
for the Gulf of Mexico Division (GMD), which highlights our work and accomplishments
from October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2020, unveils the hard work and partnerships
essential to preserving this treasured ecosystem.

In March 2020, along with the rest of the nation we were faced with COVID-19, a crisis that
required resolute action on many levels to persevere. This involved innovative thinking and
action while maintaining a clear strategy for delivering enhanced protection of public health
and the environment. GMD's $7.8 million investment in Trash-Free Waters, $10 million
investment in environmentally sound agricultural practices through the notable Farmer to
Farmer Request for Applications, and $1 million investment in community resilience continue
to propel Gulf restoration efforts. Our financial resources are just one piece to a puzzle rich
in partnerships; it is our partners' support and level of urgency around protecting the Gulf of
Mexico that makes our efforts more impactful and far reaching. FY 2020 has been met with
many challenges, and it is a great tribute to everyone in GMD for our countless successes.

This report is dedicated to the staff at GMD. During my first year as Director, I have
witnessed firsthand the expertise, hard work and compassion of my talented staff. It is their
unwavering devotion and unending resilience that is changing the construct of the Gulf of
Mexico for the better. I extend my deepest gratitude for their support and dedication this
last year. Looking ahead, GMD's success cannot be attained without our partners—it is their
shared vision and interest in the Gulf that strengthens our initiatives. To our partners, thank
you for your support, friendship and ingenuity.

Sincerely,

Iviarc wyatt

Director, Gulf of Mexico Division


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Who We Are

The Gulf of Mexico Division (GMD) is one of EPA's Great Water Body Programs whose geographic focus
is on the major environmental issues of the Gulf of Mexico region and its watershed.

GMD is committed to voluntary, nonregulatory actions and solutions that are based on sound scientific
and technical information as substantiated by our work with partners and the public.

Our program consists of two teams of experienced staff:

A Science Integration
and Analysis Team

Promoting and implementing science
to benefit the Gulf of Mexico and its
communities, this team assists Gulf of
Mexico stakeholders by participating in
activities such as collecting and testing
water samples in the watersheds that flow
into the Gulf to monitor water quality.



Partnerships Team

Encouraging positive behavioral practices and
promoting awareness of resources, technologies
and environmental practices or initiatives, this
team works closely with Gulf partners to identify
environmental concerns and provides up-to-date
education on how shifts in behavior among Gulf
stakeholders and tourists can effect change.

What We Do

The Gulf of Mexico is recognized worldwide as a vast and productive body of water with
tremendous value in ecological, economic and social terms. The Gulf of Mexico Watershed is
made up of 33 major rivers draining from 31 U.S. states and a large portion of Mexico. The U.S.
Gulf of Mexico coastline is 1,630 miles long. Environmental challenges facing the Gulf of Mexico
include excess nutrients that can cause hypoxic conditions, marine debris and degradation of
natural features such as wetlands that provide vital ecosystems services.

The Science Integration and Analysis Team and the Partnerships Team work with Gulf of Mexico
stakeholders to explore methods to:

Support the assessment, development and
implementation of programs, projects and
tools that strengthen community resilience.

Promote and support environmental
education and outreach to inhabitants
of the Gulf of Mexico Watershed.

• Protect, enhance and restore coastal
and upland habitats within the Gulf of
Mexico Watershed.

• Restore and/or improve water and habitat
quality to meet water quality standards in
watersheds throughout the five Gulf states
and the Mississippi River Basin.

EPA Gulf of Mexico Division Annual Report 2020 3


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Active Investments

LOCATION	DOLLAR AMOUNT	AGREEMENTS

Mississippi





11 Cooperatives, 3 Grants

Louisiana





12 Cooperatives, 3 Grants,
1 Interagency

Iowa





5 Cooperatives

Alabama



$4,126,308

8 Cooperatives, 3 Grants

Florida



$4,116,768

11 Cooperatives, 3 Grants

Texas

$3,353,506

7 Cooperatives, 4 Grants

Virginia

$1,999,594



3 Cooperatives, 1 Grant

Arkansas

$1,150,000



1 Cooperative

Maryland

$1,000,000



1 Interagency

Tennessee

$930,064



1 Interagency

Georgia

¦ $300,000



1 Cooperative

Oklahoma

$29,947



1 Grant

Total

More than $35 million





Funding Opportunity Results

In 2019, GMD published its first Trash-Free Waters funding opportunity, EPA-GM-2019-TFW, to support
innovative projects focused on reducing the amount of trash in our waterways through trash prevention
and/or removal. The high quality of proposals received through this funding opportunity resulted in EPA
utilizing FY 2019 funding (and FY 2020 funding) to fund 17 projects, for a total of $7.8 million! These
resources are dedicated to improving the Gulf of Mexico Watershed.

4 EPA Gulf of Mexico Division Annual Report 2020


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Performance Measures

GMD works with each of the five U.S. Gulf Coast states
and other stakeholders in the Gulf of Mexico Watershed
including the six Mexican Gulf Coast states on projects
that support the following priority areas:

Water Quality

GMD continuously works with Gulf Coast states
to maximize efficiency and utility of water quality
monitoring efforts for local managers. GMD
supports efforts to improve water and habitat
quality to meet water quality standards throughout
the five Gulf states and Mississippi River Basin.

MOT Environmental Education
and Outreach

These efforts are cornerstones to environmental
stewardship. GMD's goal is to heighten citizens'
appreciation of the Gulf, which leads to positive
behavior practices. This can be accomplished
by developing hands-on environmental
initiatives and engaging residents in restoration
programs/projects.

Target: Improve
6 water quality
health indicators

Results: Improved
indicators in 20
water bodies

Target:

Reach 10,000
individuals

Results:

15,989 individuals
reached

Habitat Restoration

Through funding and partnerships, GMD is
restoring habitat in the Gulf states, especially
related to wetlands, coastal prairies and stream
banks corridors. This work helps provide for
protection from storm damage; supports
commercial and recreational fisheries; provides
nesting and foraging habitat for birds and other
wildlife; protects pollinators; and improves water
quality for recreational use and aquatic life.

Target: Restore
350 acres

Results: 58,608
acres restored









© Community Resilience

Resilience is the capability to anticipate, prepare for,
respond to, and recover from significant multi-hazard
threats with minimum damage to social well-being,
the economy and the environment. GMD supports
community capacity building through vulnerability
assessments and development of adaptive capacity
or resilience plans to assist communities in preparing
for potential changes in the environment or future,
disruptive events.

Target:

Reach 40
communities

Results:

88 communities
reached

EPA Gulf of Mexico Division Annual Report 2020


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A

Water Quality

Bayou Chico Water Quality Improvement Projects:

Jackson Lake / Lanier Drive Managed Aquatic Plants Systems (MAPS)

Summary

Escambia County is improving water quality in portions of the Bayou Chico
Watershed by installing floating treatment wetlands. Vegetation from the
floating treatment wetlands improves water quality via nutrient uptake
from detained storm event flows, thereby reducing the amount of excess
nutrients. In addition, when the grown vegetation is routinely harvested
from the floating treatment wetlands, it will be planted at existing living
shoreline restoration projects in the Pensacola Bay Watershed where the
vegetation will continue to improve water quality and provide new estuarine
habitat. The living shoreline projects will provide cuttings for future plant
propagation and the next crop of vegetation for installation in the floating
treatment wetlands. Thus, the system is zero waste and self-sustaining.

Partners

•	Escambia County Board
of Commissioners

•	Pensacola & Perdido
Bays Estuary Program

•	Escambia County
Extension Service

•	Santa Rosa County
Extension Service

•	GulfCorps



jfJCtfL Sfm

Anticipated Cumulative Results

By the project's end, this project will have installed approximately
21,000 square feet of floating wetlands. These floating wetlands
will grow several species of wetland grasses, including cordgrass,
saltmeadow cordgrass, seashore paspalum, soft rush, pickerel weed
and duck potato. Individual plants will be harvested for use in multiple
restoration projects throughout Escambia County. The project expects
anywhere from a 12% to an 89% reduction in nutrients in Lanier Pond
due to the installation of the floating wetlands system.

A Flood-First Approach to Water Quality Improvement in an Iowa Watershed

Summary

This project will leverage partnerships and funding from the multiyear Iowa Watershed
Approach to install more than $1 million in built practices to reduce downstream flooding
and improve water quality in a rural HUC 12 watershed within the Mississippi River Basin.
This project will also measure and assess nitrate reduction associated with the built
practices and develop a comprehensive outreach program.

Anticipated Cumulative Results

Water quality improvements to reduce nitrates by 5% or more; establish streamflow and
nitrates sensor network; develop a computational model. To date, sensors have been
placed at four locations and sampling has begun at these sites.

Partners

•	University of Iowa

•	IWA Campaign

•	Middle Creek
Watershed Authority

•	IIHR

•	Iowa Flood Center

•	Iowa Geological
Survey

O

6 EPA Gulf of Mexico Division Annual Report 2020


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Water Quality

Partners

•	Mobile Bay NEP

•	Dog River Clearwater Revival

•	Mobile Baykeeper

Building on Success: The Story of the
Three Mile Creek Watershed

•	City of Mobile

•	Tampa Bay NEP

Summary

In 2018, GMD awarded a grant to the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program (MBNEP) to implement an innovative
approach to install prototype trash traps or Litter Gitters that have removed approximately 10,000 pounds of trash
from the Three Mile Creek Watershed. Building on the success of this innovative approach, in 2019 GMD awarded the
Dog River Clearwater Revival $328,101 to install Litter Gitters in the neighboring Dog River Watershed, Then in 2020,
GMD awarded the city of Mobile $487,980 that would upgrade the existing Litter Gitters and install 42 marine debris
interceptors that would capture trash before it enters the city of Mobile stormwater system.

The MBNEP then worked with the Tampa Bay Estuary Program (TBEP) to apply for and receive a grant from GMD to
take their innovative trash management strategies to the Tampa Bay watersheds. TBEP will install Litter Gitters, Water
Goats and Sea Bins in strategic locations throughout their watersheds. TBEP will also partner with MBNEP to develop
a Community-Based Litter Management and Prevention Plan template that will be able to be applied in other estuary
programs and communities.

Cumulative Results

Results from completed MBNEP project: 7 water segments improved; 10,178 pounds of trash removed (2,042 pounds
recycled); 341 students educated through SWAMP program

Results from completed Dog River project: 3 water segments improved; 3,452 pounds of trash removed (828 pounds
recycled); 281 students educated through SWAMP program

Anticipated results from city of Mobile: 6 water segments will be improved; 7,000 pounds of trash will be removed;
250 individuals will be reached through SWAMP program

Anticipated results from TBEP/MBNEP partnership: 12 water segments will be improved; 3,250 pounds of trash will be
removed; 500 individuals will be reached through direct education and outreach

Water Quality Improvement Education and Outreach in the
Bayou Lafourche Watershed

Summary

The project is demonstrating, through monitoring of water quality, the benefit of
providing incentives and training to private citizens to repair their malfunctioning
sewage system. This project reduces water quality pollution and provides education
and training about water quality pollution and the benefits of sewage system
maintenance to the public at meetings, festivals, summer camps and other educational
venues.

Partners

• Barataria-Terrebonne
National Estuary

• South Central
Planning and
Development
Commission

Program

Anticipated Cumulative Results

5% improvement in fecal coliform; over 16,480 families will be trained on maintenance
of their individual home sewage systems with a minimum of 200 homes receiving
cost-share assistance

EPA Gulf of Mexico Division Annual Report 2020 7

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Habitat Restoration

Apalachicola Regional Stewardship Alliance



Partners

•	The Nature Conservancy

•	U.S. Forest Service

•	U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

•	U.S. Department of Defense

•	Florida Forest Service

•	Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission

•	Northwest Florida Water
Management District

•	Florida State Parks

•	Tall Timbers Research Station
and Land Conservancy

Summary

The Apalachicola River has the largest forested floodplain
in Florida, covering approximately 112,000 acres, and is
up to 5 miles wide. Management of Southern Pine forests
directly affects water quality and quantity in downstream
habitats. The Southern Pine forest ecosystem is among
the most diverse ecosystems in the world thanks to
frequent fires that reduce woody vegetation and support
understory species. These ecosystems, which historically
caught fire naturally, are now largely fire-suppressed
and overrun with invasive species. Reintroducing fire and
eliminating invasive species are essential to regaining
the benefits of these unique ecosystems, which include
flood control, drought tolerance, decreased wildfire risk
and reduced storm damage. More broadly, it supports
productive fisheries, ecotourism and the forest products
industry. In addition to forest management, this project is
teaching the next generation of citizens and stewards to
help maintain the region's long-term resource durability.

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Cumulative Results

54,590

acres of
prescribed fire

~7 Q individuals reached through
/ O virtual career presentations

Enhancing Shoreline Habitat to Increase Resilience

Summary

This project is using innovative approaches to create marsh and oyster reef habitats in
areas presently devoid of riparian buffers. These activities will reduce and prevent the
entry of land-based pollutants from the urbanized watershed into adjacent estuarine
areas, and increase the removal and cycling of nutrients. In addition, these activities
will create a series of demonstration sites where homeowners, city and municipal
staff, and marine contractors can learn about the benefits of living shorelines and
their development in a real-world, hands-on fashion, facilitating the extension of
pollution prevention and reduction benefits to other communities.

Cumulative Results

2.18

high-value acreage restored or enhanced (including oyster reef,
coastal wetland, low energy beach, black mangrove)

/¦> individuals reached through
»f""l / environmental education methods

M (jn person)

communities strengthened by
implementing the living shoreline

Partners

•	University of Florida Coastal
Management Program

•	Gulf Climate and Resilience
Community of Practice

•	City of Cedar Key

rm:mr

8 EPA Gulf of Mexico Division Annual Report 2020


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Habitat Restoration

Northwest Florida Endemic Species Habitat Improvement Project

Partners

•	Community Training Works

•	St, Marks National
Wildlife Refuge

•	St, Vincent National
Wildlife Refuge

•	U.S. Geological Survey

•	The Corps Network

Summary

This project is working to restore habitat for threatened and endangered
species. Ephemeral ponds on St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge are
vital breeding habitat for the threatened frosted flatwoods salamander.
Removing woody plants, peat and duff in and around the ponds will allow
herbaceous species ideal for breeding sites to flourish. At the St. Vincent
National Wildlife Refuge, removal of downed logs and other woody material,
marine debris and litter is restoring beach nesting habitat for threatened
loggerhead sea turtles and endangered green sea turtles. This work is
providing an educational experience for Conservation Corps crew members
who have been trained from communities near the refuges to restore habitat
critical for the survival of these endangered species. As educated community
members, the restoration crew becomes the next generation of stewards of
the public land and waterways ensuring species survival.

Cumulative Results

209

acres of critical
habitat restored

46

individuals
educated

Steinhatchee Seagrass Protection and Restoration

Partners

•	Florida Department of	• Sea Hag Marina
Environmental Protection . Lower Suwannee Nationa,

•	Taylor County Sheriff Department	Wildlife Refuge

•	Florida Sea Grant	• Local communities

•	Nature Coast Biological Station

Summary

This project aims to restore 2,400 square feet of seagrass habitat at the mouth of
the Steinhatchee River, collect a baseline water quality dataset for five years, and
increase community awareness of the impact of marine debris by reaching out to at
least 360 people over the course of three years at education and outreach events in
the Big Bend region. This project addresses the Steinhatchee Seagrass Protection and
Restoration Project through community engagement. This project will restore 2,400
square feet of the critical seagrass habitat in Deadman Bay in Steinhatchee, Florida.

Cumulative Results

319/4,440

I y fl community members engaged
¦£-. %. M at Fiddler Crab Festival

319 derelict crab traps removed, which equates
to 4,440 pounds of marine debris

brochure for marine
debris developed

EPA Gulf of Mexico Division Annual Report 2020 9


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t

Environmental Education
and Outreach

Bayous to Beaches

Partner

• University of Southern Mississippi

Summary

This project delivers a Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience
(MWEE) to K-12 teachers and students using classroom lessons, a research
cruise, and use of the MDEQ Beach Monitoring website and NOAA Marine
Debris Tracker app. These resources are used to connect common human
behaviors on land and the impacts on water quality in coastal waters,
showing the link between bacterial contamination and beach closures.
K-12 participants will share what they learn through public events.

Cumulative Results

A J teachers participated in
HO professional development

11 A AAA estimated individuals
I XJgXjXjXJ reached

Coastal Connections - Environmental Education for LJnderserved
Florida Fifth Graders

Summary

Nature's Academy offers free "edventure" programs to underprivileged and
underserved fifth grade students in order to motivate their personal involvement
in habitat preservation and to advocate sustainable approaches to the use and
enjoyment of our natural resources. Title I schools lack the resources to attend
optional field trips, so Nature's Academy provides bus transportation, field
instruction, program materials and inspiration—everything essential for a
best-in-class environmental education experience.

Cumulative Results

CI	people A *|| pounds of trash removed

T reached I I U from coastal habitats

j /1 k"; W single-use plastic
bottles eliminated

Partners

•	Nature's Academy

•	Manatee County Schools

•	Pinellas County Schools

Mississippi Beach Monitoring Program

10 EPA Gulf of Mexico Division Annual Report 2020


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Environmental Education and Outreach

Gulf Coast Stewards of Tomorrow: Working Toward a Sustainable Future
Through At-Sea Learning for South Texas Middle and High School Students

Partners

•	Texas A&M University,
Department of Oceanography

•	Corpus Christi Schools

Summary

This project is designed to educate young citizens on local environmental

impacts and empower them to work toward improving the environment

through stewardship.

Project goals:

•	Educate young citizens on the impacts of nonpoint source pollution
to Corpus Christi Bay, the importance of water conservation and
stormwater sequestration, impacts of everyday actions on the acidity
of estuaries and the coastal ocean, and how coastal ecosystems relate
to the local economy.

•	Empower teachers and students with knowledge to share with their
community on the importance of being stewards of the environment.

•	Create new classroom lesson plans that focus on the improvement
of water quality, preservation of the marine habitat and coastal
community resilience.

Cumulative Results

field 1 1 QQ students and
trips I g I «/ adults attended

Using Problem-Based Learning to Build Water Quality Stewardship
with Girl Scouts in the Gulf of Mexico Watershed

Cumulative Results

/ Q y pollution and water quality stewardship
# €3&= experiences for Girl Scouts

EPA Gulf of Mexico Division Annual Report 2020 11

Summary

The University of Texas at Austin developed an environmental education
and action-based environmental stewardship program focused on improving
water quality in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Watershed with Girl Scouts in
central and south Texas, particularly targeting underrepresented populations.
Project activities include active-learning activities on topics related to water
pollution in the GOM and actions for mitigating/preventing that pollution,
activity plans for Girl Scout leaders to conduct these activities on their own,
semester-long problem-based learning modules for in-depth scientific
understanding of topics related to water pollution in the GOM, and cleanup
days in beaches and parks in the GOM Watershed.

Partners

•	University of Texas at Austin

•	Girl Scouts of Greater South Texas


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A

Community Resilience

Strengthening Resilience Through Community-Based Flood Planning
in Northwest Florida

Pensacola & Perdido Bays
Estuary Program

Santa Rosa County

Escambia County

Summary

Gulf Coast communities are experiencing a higher frequency of flooding caused
by extreme rain events, resulting in economic and social impacts. GMD will be
working with the University of Florida on a three-year project in Escambia County
and Santa Rosa County in northwest Florida, focused on strengthening resilience
of 12 communities prone to flooding caused by these extreme rain events. The
project utilizes EPA's Storm Water Management Model (SWMM), which is informed
by local streamflow and water quality data. The SWMM provides a framework for
communities, counties and other stakeholders to assess the risks and opportunities
to reduce flooding and pollutants through the use of green infrastructure (Gl).



Cumulative Results

To gather public input on managing areas prone to flooding, public workshops
were held in person in 2019 and through distance methods in 2020, focusing on
educating county and other municipal staff who may not think of Gl as a viable
stormwater management method. Ten field sites were established in small urban
streams with input from county staff, where streamflow records and water quality
data will be collected over the project duration. Also, data on rainfall over the
project area and on some stormwater infrastructure in project watersheds were
collected to inform stormwater models.

Anticipated Cumulative Results

By the conclusion of the project, 24 public workshops will be held to discuss project
findings (data, model results), Gl benefits and local examples, and Gl scenarios.
Streamflow measurement and water quality sampling will occur at field sites
to inform stormwater management models, and Gl scenarios will be tested to
examine how a variety of Gl features may reduce flooding in communities and
improve water quality in project streams.

Improving Coastal Resilience in the Northern Gulf of Mexico with a
Regional Sediment Availability and Allocation Decision-Support Tool

Partner

• Gulf of Mexico
Alliance

Summary

This project supports creation of the Northern Gulf Sediment Availability and Allocation
Program (NGSAAP). It will compile existing data on available Gulf sediment resources and
develop an ArcGIS-based decision-support tool to assist coastal stakeholders in Alabama,
Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas in decision-making regarding habitat creation and restoration.

Cumulative Results

To date, it has compiled available regional sediment management information and
identified data gaps in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.

12 EPA Gulf of Mexico Division Annual Report 2020


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Community Resilience

Tampa Bay Regional Resiliency Coalition

Partners

•	Tampa Bay Regional
Planning Council

•	Citrus County

•	Hernando County

•	Hillsborough County

•	Manatee County

•	Pasco County

•	Pinellas County

Summary

This project aims to conduct workshops to identify vulnerabilities and resiliency
needs throughout the Tampa Bay region. This will feed into a Regional Resiliency
Action Plan that can be implemented by the local governments in the region.

This action plan is intended to provide guidance to local governments on how
they can be more resilient in the future, and will be a living document.

Cumulative Results

Bradenton
Bradenton Beach
Clearwater
Dunedin
Gulfport
Holmes Beach
Indian Rocks Beach
Indian Shores

Largo

Madeira Beach
New Port Richey
Oldsmar
Palmetto
Redington Beach
Safety Harbor
Sarasota

Seminole
South Pasadena
St. Petersburg
St. Pete Beach
Tampa

Tarpon Springs
Treasure Island

27

jurisdictions participating in
the Resiliency Coalition

Homeowners Handbook to Prepare for Coastal Hazards

Summary

GOMA, GMD and NOAA along with the five Gulf states formed a partnership to
help Gulf residents improve their resilience to natural disasters by creating the
Homeowners Handbooks to Prepare for Coastal Hazards. Customized for each state,
these handbooks provide coastal property owners with information on natural
hazards and how to best prepare for them, including construction and retrofit
practices, evacuation supply lists and procedures, and emergency contact information.

The Coastal Homeowners Resilience app will correct several limitations of the current
handbooks, allowing the content to be updated as necessary and making the
handbooks more actionable, personal and relevant. The app will allow the handbooks
to stay current by utilizing existing material with newer technology and maximizing
capacity to improve the resilience of coastal residents of the Gulf of Mexico.

Homeowners Handbook

http://masac.ora/assets/uploads/publications/802/20-012 mississippi.pdf

Anticipated Cumulative Results

This project will create a Coastal Homeowners Resilience app that can be used as a
broad toolbox that contains each state's handbooks, in both English and Spanish, to
help people protect themselves and their property from natural hazards.

•	Increased number of people starting or improving their disaster supply kits

•	More property owners taking steps to improve the storm-readiness of their home

Partners

GOMA Resilience Team members
who worked on the Homeowners
Handbook updates:

•	TX General Lands Office

•	HRI

•	LA Sea Grant and LA
Department of Natural
Resources

•	MS/AL Sea Grant

•	MS Department of Marine
Resources

•	AL DCNR

•	FLDEP

•	Smart Home America

EPA Gulf of Mexico Division Annual Report 2020 1 3


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Farmer to Farmer

EPA Farmer to Farmer Grants

GMD supports projects to improve water quality, habitat arid environmental education through farmer-led
or farm-focused organizations in the upper and lower Mississippi River basins.

Farmer-Driven Water Quality Through Conservation Grazing
in the Kickapoo River Watershed

Partners

• Winrock International	• Tainter Creek Farmer-Led

. Kickapoo River Watershed -	Watershed Council

Valley Stewardship Network

Summary

Working with the Tainter Creek Farmer-Led Watershed Council and
local partners, the Wallace Center is using farmer-to-farmer outreach
and technical support to increase the adoption of conservation
grazing practices, which will increase farmer incomes and improve
water quality. The project is developing a cutting-edge land
management decision-support tool to guide management decisions
and use rigorous science to evaluate improvements in water quality.

Anticipated Cumulative Results

Reduce turbidity or phosphorus in the Tainter Creek Subwatershed
by at least 5%; conservation grazing practices adopted on over
1,000 acres of land

Iowa Transforming Drainage Demonstration Project

Partners

•	Iowa Department of Agriculture
and Land Stewardship

•	Iowa State University

•	Iowa Soybean Association

•	Iowa Agriculture Water Alliance

•	Iowa Corn Growers Association

Summary

The goal of the Iowa Transforming Drainage Demonstration Project is to advance
knowledge and implementation of alternative drainage systems in the Des Moines
River Basin to improve downstream water quality while improving crop production
and yield stability, sustainably secure and manage irrigation water, and enhance
wildlife habitat. This will support the integration of systems utilized to sustainably
use and manage water to produce crops and reduce nutrient losses during variable
annual/seasonal conditions.

Cumulative Results

5 (4 saturated buffers, 1 bioreactor) projects installed; approximately 2 acres of
enhanced habitat acres on footprint of installed saturated buffers and bioreactor;
12,600 individuals reached through outreach and workshops

14 EPA Gulf of Mexico Division Annual Report 2020


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Farmer to Farmer

Multistate Collaboration to Improve Mississippi River and
Gulf of Mexico Water Quality Through Farmer-Led Initiatives
and Farmer-Driven Data

Summary

This multistate collaborative project will decrease nutrient loss to multiple
water bodies within the Mississippi River Basin. This will be accomplished by
using the robust Cooperative Extension networks of the SERA-46 members
to educate farmers, and by working directly with farmers to implement NRCS
and university-recommended agricultural conservation practices proven to
improve water quality. Farmer-led demonstrations will facilitate information
and technology transfer of conservation practices between farmers at
multiple scales using transparent and measurable approaches.

Partners

•	Mississippi State University
Extension

•	Land Grant Universities

•	Farmer-led Research Farms

•	Local Farmers

•	SERA-46 Partners

Cumulative Results

270 acres of cover crop iri Illinois; subaward went out for solicitation;
1 Farmer to Farmer Exchange; QAPP developed

Practical Farmers of Iowa - Roots for Water Quality:
A Farmer-to-Farmer Model for a Sustainable Mississippi River Basin

Summary

Led by Practical Farmers of Iowa's farmer board of directors and farmer
membership, this project will equip Iowa farmers with tools to accelerate
implementation of cover crops through shifting the tone of mainstream
agriculture, doubling the number of cover crop champions, lowering barriers to
implementation and measuring a 5% improvement in water quality. This project
will train farmers to become "cover crop champions" and compensate them for
successfully educating groups and mentoring middle-adopter farmers.

Partner

• Iowa Soybean Association

Cumulative Results

18,188

people
reached

EPA Gulf of Mexico Division Annual Report 2020 1 5

KMJ


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Trash-Free Waters

Common trash from consumer goods makes up the majority of trash and litter that
is polluting our waterways and flowing downstream into our oceans. Over the last
four years, GMD has awarded $9.42 million in trash removal and prevention grants
across the five Gulf Coast states to do just that. These projects fund activities related
to trash removal and prevention, education and outreach, and research.

Plastics and Trash Pollution Reduction and Prevention Along the Texas Upper Coast
Through Coordinated Cleanups and Community Engagement

Recipient: American Bird Conservancy Award: $499,773

The American Bird Conservancy intends to improve water quality on the upper Texas coastline by directly reducing
trash accumulating on coastal beaches. A coordinated education and outreach campaign will be launched
to engage the local communities, stakeholders and natural resource managers impacted by trash and plastic
pollution. This project will launch an innovative online platform to collect data and engage the public.

Up2U Litter Campaign: Cultivating Personal Responsibility for Litter Prevention in the
Texas Coastal Bend

Recipient: Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries Program	Award: $422,857

The Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries Program intends to improve water quality through a litter prevention
program. The Up2U litter prevention program will be expanded from the headwaters of the Nueces River Basin
to 10 watersheds within the Coastal Bend. This project will include strategic billboards, radio spots, litter bag
distribution points and community cleanup events.

Keep the Gulf Clean: A Regional Collaborative to Promote Trash-Free Watersheds

Recipient: Groundwork New Orleans Award: $500,000

Groundwork New Orleans intends to improve water quality by removing trash from urban drainage systems and
providing community education on trash prevention. This project will also help to restore habitats by encouraging
green infrastructure and other best water management practices in three Gulf of Mexico watersheds.

Salt Flats Ditch Trash Reduction & Prevention Project

Recipient: Port of Corpus Christi Authority	Award: $471,324

The Port of Corpus Christi Authority of Nueces County, Texas, intends to improve the water quality of Salt
Flats Ditch in Corpus Christi, Texas, by deploying a mobile trash skimming device. An education and outreach
campaign will improve community awareness regarding how trash enters the natural waterways via the municipal
stormwater system, and it will highlight the impacts of trash on aquatic ecosystems.

Louisiana's University Watershed Movement

Recipient: University of Louisiana at Lafayette Award: $495,006

This project aims to educate and engage the next generation of business owners and community leaders on
environmental issues, such as waste reduction, litter prevention and marine debris, that have long-term effects
on the Gulf of Mexico. This project will provide students hands-on experience with data collection while fostering
their development into change agents who are informed and capable of implementing thoughtful, effective
solutions to the environmental, social and economic challenges we face at local, national and global scales.

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Trash-Free Waters

Geauxing Green: Sustainable Festival Planning

Recipient: LA UniMarCon - Louisiana State University dba LA Universities Marine Consortium Award: $469,819

The goal of this project is to improve water quality through the reduction of waste by prevention and to improve
community resilience through education. Two different festivals will be encouraged to use single-use plastic, vendors
will be required to use sustainable alternatives to plastic, and recycling and composting will be provided.

Trash-Free Texas: Basin-Wide Community Engagement Strategies to Reduce Aquatic Debris

Recipient: North Central Texas Council of Governments Award: $500,000

This program will implement trash prevention, community outreach and engagement, and trash reduction projects
aimed at changing behaviors and business practices and reducing aquatic debris from six basins in the Dallas-Fort Worth
and Houston regions that drain to Galveston Bay and adjacent areas of the Gulf of Mexico.

A Comprehensive Trash Abatement Program for Two Central Alabama Watersheds

Recipient: Freshwater Land Trust Award: $500,000

This project will use an innovative in-stream trash removal approach and source assessment in the Black Warrior and
Cahaba watersheds and a community outreach and education program to arouse citizen action to reduce the volume
of trash entering U.S. waterways. All the partners assembled for collaboration have long worked in the community
on clean water issues, such as cleanups, habitat restoration and water quality testing programs. By bringing them
together, their institutional knowledge, collective energy and resources will be put to work to improve water quality,
enhance habitat and educate citizens.

City of Mobile Environmental Litter Prevention Program

Recipient: City of Mobile	Award: $487,980

The City of Mobile Environmental Litter Prevention Program will employ a three-pronged approach of prevention,
removal and outreach/education. This will include the installation of 48 trash capture devices in the Three Mile Creek
Watershed, the creation of an electronic trash tracking system that will map device locations throughout the city and
allow staff to upload and download maintenance data, and partnering with Mobile Baykeeper to provide robust,
citywide education and outreach with an emphasis on urban areas surrounding the Three Mile Creek Watershed.

Keep Lignumvitae Lovely: A Holistic Marine Debris Program in Lignumvitae Key
Aquatic Preserve

Recipient: FLDEP	Award: $339,056

This project will implement a four-phase plan to remove marine debris within the 7,500 acres of LKAP and
prevent future accumulation. The project will lead to long-term trash reduction through outreach with tourists
and 6,500 residents.

Enhancing Community Resilience Through Water-Borne Trash Removal & Reduction

Recipient: Pensacola & Perdido Bays Estuary Program via the Escambia County Board of Commissioners
Award: $297,220

This project will identify and mitigate potential sources and contributors of water-borne trash in three creeks
of the Pensacola Bay System. This project will engage the community in trash removal and prevention.
The Pensacola & Perdido Bays Estuary Program is working with local businesses, grassroots organizations and
area schools to reduce water-borne trash and improve the safety, health and beauty of local creeks.

EPA Gulf of Mexico Division Annual Report 2020 1 7

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Trash-Free Waters

Expanding a Comprehensive Strategy to Create Trash-Free Waters Across the Gulf of Mexico
Through a National Estuary Programs Partnership

Recipient: Tampa Bay Estuary Program Award: $492,829

This project aims to improve water quality by directly removing trash from two estuaries of national significance in
the Gulf of Mexico, expanding the use of marine debris removal technologies and directly engaging communities and
businesses in trash removal activities.

Plastic Free Gulf Coast

Recipient: Mississippi State University Award: $491,434

This project is focused on eliminating the use of plastic before it becomes waste. This project offers a pilot program
to support communities in taking immediate, sustainable action. Plastic Free Gulf Coast shares experience, research
and data publicly through one-on-one meetings, presentations, online and traditional media, and public events.

Integrating Immersive Virtual Reality and Litter Gitters to Prevent and Remove Land-Based
Litter in the Mississippi Gulf Coast Region

Recipient: Mississippi State University - Industrial and Systems Engineering Department	Award: $385,419

This project will use effective trash capture technology to improve stream habitat and water quality in an affected
stream and engage communities through outreach and education activities. An immersive VR module will be
developed to increase participants' awareness of hazards of litter to change the community's behavior and prevent
litter. This project will utilize a trash capture device to collect litter in an affected stream.

Addressing Trash Pollution Through Development and Expansion of Cooperative
Extension Programs

Recipient: MS/AL Sea Grant (Mississippi State University) Award: $499,970

Mississippi State University intends to improve water quality through the expansion of the Mississippi Coastal Cleanup
Program and continuation of a derelict crab trap removal program with commercial shrimpers. Implementation of
these programs will improve water quality by: 1) removing trash pollution through community-based cleanups across
the state and continuation of a derelict crab trap removal program for commercial shrimpers, and 2) preventing trash
pollution through the development and expansion of a cohesive statewide MSU Cooperative Extension Program
focused on trash prevention and removal.

Reduction and Prevention of Trash in Texas and the Gulf of Mexico Watershed

Recipient: Keep Texas Beautiful Award: $428,591

This project will improve water quality by providing technical assistance, programmatic solutions and educational
best practices related to litter cleanup and prevention for three areas of Texas. Project activities will include
community site visits, stakeholder meetings, development of an individual work plan for each community, plan
implementation, and a summary of findings to develop litter cleanup and prevention best practices to be shared
throughout the state and beyond.

Alabama Litter Abatement

Recipient: ADEM	Award: $500,000

This litter reduction initiative helps citizens prevent litter from reaching waterways by abating sources of trash at litter
collection sculpture sites while educating them about the watershed and promoting long-term sustainable voluntary
practices to reduce pollution. Outreach to specific disadvantaged communities about abating littering and education
about the importance of watershed health will be provided at priority locations within local schools.

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Updates and Events

Central Wetlands Tree Planting

EPA staff, fellows and interns worked with the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana
and other volunteers to plant over 700 cypress trees in the Central Wetlands Unit in
Violet, Louisiana. The Central Wetlands were heavily impacted by logging in the early
part of the last century. In the early 1950s, the Central Wetlands Unit was primarily
a freshwater system dominated by cypress swamps and freshwater marshes. After
the construction of MRGO, saltwater came into the freshwater system, killing the
remaining cypress trees and freshwater marsh grass species, ultimately converting the
area into open water. The closure of MRGO has allowed the Central Wetlands Unit to
return to a freshwater-brackish system that can support cypress swamp and freshwater
marsh ecosystems.

To plant trees, a sled full of saplings and supplies was given to each group of two to
three people and then pulled through the very wet wetlands (several people got stuck
in the mud) to the planting area, where trees were spaced 15 feet apart. As part of the
planting, the trunks of the trees were encased in a plastic shield to protect the young
trees from voracious nutria.

Results

-/rift! cypress trees
/ UUT planted

Enhancing Watershed Knowledge Through Microbial
Source Tracking with Poarch Band of Creek Indians

Over the last year, GMD has worked closely with the Poarch Band of Creek Indians
(PBCI), whose reservation is in Escambia County, Alabama. Together with PBCI, GMD
provided support in learning more about the potential sources of fecal contamination
within Escambia Creek. Since on the reservation Escambia Creek is commonly used for
recreation, sites along the creek were identified for regular sampling by PBCI. Through
the collaboration, GMD helped PBCI gain the capacity and knowledge to process
and preserve their microbial source tracking samples. Moving forward, GMD plans
to continue helping PBCI by processing their preserved samples using Quantitative
Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR).

NEJAC

GMD staff participated in the National Environmental Justice
Advisory Council (NEJAC) annual in-person meeting in Jacksonville,
Florida. NEJAC provides a forum where its national members bring
familiar yet varying degrees of expertise in environmental justice to
the forefront, advising EPA on its current policies based on the needs
and concerns of the disproportionate/disadvantaged population.
Much of this year's meeting emphasized the environmental impacts
on vulnerable communities as a result of natural disasters and toxins
associated with pesticide use on farmland. Federal and state agencies,
NGOs and public citizens were given the opportunity to share their
take on the current state of our environment, whether it be a need
for attention or a highlight of success.

Paddle the Gulf

Paddle the Gulf is an initiative to inspire
people to become more connected to
nature by exploring coastal streams
and rivers that flow into the Gulf of
Mexico. Staff participated in an event
in Diamondhead, Mississippi, where
participants paddled 4 miles around the
local bayou. Over 100 people attended
the event.

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Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource
Damage Assessment and Restoration

2020 marked the 10-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill that killed 11 people, resulted in
the largest spill of oil in U.S. history and prompted the broadest Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) ever
undertaken. Many activities marked the anniversary of this tragic event. To acknowledge the work that has since been
completed to restore Gulf of Mexico natural resources, messages of hope were shared to highlight the more than 200
restoration projects that have come to fruition in the past 10 years. GMD staff were honored to participate in EPA's
10-year video "Restoring Gulf Natural Resources" available at: https://www.epa.gov/deepwaterhorizon

As a member of the DWH NRDA Trustee Council, EPA supports eight Trustee Implementation Groups (TIGs). GMD staff
serve as primary and alternate EPA Trustee representatives on the TIGs for Alabama, Florida and Mississippi, as well
as the Region-wide TIG. Supporting the Office of Water lead for NRDA, GMD staff also provide technical expertise
to the five Gulf states related to monitoring and adaptive management, and approaches to restore oysters and
sturgeon injured by the oil spill. As a result of the NRDA restoration efforts, measurable results-oriented projects are
being implemented to directly benefit the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem and the natural resources injured by the DWH
oil spill by: restoring and conserving habitat, providing and enhancing recreational use, restoring water quality, and
replenishing and protecting injured species.

Examples of specific DWH NRDA work being supported by GMD staff

Florida TIG

Work with the DWH NRDA co-Trustees is ongoing
to develop the Florida TIG's Restoration Plan II and
Environmental Assessment that will include projects for
birds, sea turtles, marine mammals, habitat on federally
managed lands and recreational use restoration types.

Louisiana TIG

The Louisiana TIG in January 2020 initiated development
of a Monitoring and Adaptive Management (MAM)
strategy for the Louisiana Restoration Area.

GMD staff represent EPA on the MAM workgroup in
developing MAM priorities for the TIG.

Mississippi TIG

The Mississippi TIG published its Restoration Plan II and
Environmental Assessment, which includes four projects in
the wetlands, coastal and nearshore habitats, and oysters
restoration types valued at approximately $15.4 million.

GMD staff continued water quality field monitoring for
the Upper Pascagoula River nutrient reduction project.

Texas TIG

The Texas TIG is planning on working on oyster engineering
designs for possible restoration in Galveston Bay.

Region-wide TIG

The Region-wide TIG is drafting its first Restoration Plan
and Environmental Assessment, which could include
projects in the birds, sea turtles, oysters and marine
mammals restoration types.

Open Ocean TIG

The Open Ocean TIG released an updated Open Ocean
Monitoring and Adaptive Management Strategy. The
strategy includes the Trustees' initial priorities for
information needed to help evaluate the outcomes of
restoration, assess progress toward restoration goals,
and inform restoration planning and implementation.

GMD staff supported the EPA Office of Water on the
MAM workgroup in developing the MAM strategy and
will continue support in FY 2021 in the next phase of
MAM priorities development.

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Gulf Coast Ecosystem
Restoration Council

Following the catastrophic 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Congress passed the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability,
Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast Act of 2012 (RESTORE Act). The RESTORE Act established
the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council (the Council) and the Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund. The Council
membership includes the governors of the states of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, as well as the
secretaries of the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Army, Commerce, Homeland Security and the Interior, and the
Administrator for EPA. EPA currently serves as the chair of the Council. If you are interested in reading more about the
RESTORE Act or the Council, please visit: www.RestoreTheGulf.aov

On December 9, 2015, the RESTORE Council approved the Initial Funded Priorities List (Initial FPL). Under the Initial FPL,
EPA is the implementing member for these four projects:

Mobile Bay National Estuary
Program (MBNEP)

Awarded $1.65 million in 2020

This project will:

•	Restore approximately 1,800 linear feet of stream on
the headwaters of Twelve Mile Creek, a tributary of
Three Mile Creek

•	Implement an extensive Invasive Species Control
Plan in priority areas identified in the Three Mile
Creek Watershed

•	Address stressors affecting water quality and habitat
in the Three Mile Creek Watershed

Pensacola & Perdido Bays
Estuary Program (PPBEP)

Awarded $2 million in 2018

•	The PPBEP Management Conference has been
established and is made up of the Policy Board,
the Technical Advisory Committee, the Education
and Outreach Committee and the Business
Advisory Committee.

•	Committees are actively participating in the
development of PPBEP's first Comprehensive
Conservation Management Plan (CCMP).

•	The PPBEP has also been successful in securing
additional funding from the Florida State Legislature
as well as other sources to further the goals of

the program and to help ensure the long-term
sustainability of this new estuary program.

Tampa Bay Estuary Program
(TBEP)

Awarded $1.4 million in 2018

The TBEP will implement five water quality and
habitat improvement projects throughout the
Tampa Bay watersheds:

•	Biosolids to Energy (City of St. Petersburg)

•	Copeland Park Stormwater Enhancements
(City of Tampa)

•	Coastal Invasive Plant Removal/Cockroach Bay
Aquatic Reserve (Hillsborough County)

•	Robinson Preserve Water Quality and Habitat
Restoration (Manatee County)

•	Ft. De Soto Recirculation and Seagrass Recovery
(Pinellas County)

Conservation Enhancement
Grant Program

Awarded $2.5 million in 2020

This project will enhance public-private partnerships
that support land protection and conservation across
the Gulf Coast region:

•	Funding Opportunity issued selected eight projects
for funding across the region

•	RESTORE Council will enter into an interagency
agreement

•	GMD will enter into cooperative agreements with
selected projects

EPA Gulf of Mexico Division Annual Report 2020 21


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V?/

Senior Environmental
Employment (SEE)

Through a cooperative agreement with the National Caucus & Center on Black Aging, Inc., GMD employs enrollees
of the Senior Environmental Employment (SEE) Program. These enrollees have helped and continue to help GMD
with making significant progress in reaching communities and establishing relationships. The work of the enrollees
has catapulted education and engagement initiatives leading to resilient communities.

mm

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JV

Collaborating with Minority Scientific

Research & Development Laboratories and Institutes

GMD SEE staff continue outreach and collaborative efforts to expand and create
infrastructure that sets the stage for long-term involvement in environmental
studies, initiatives and activities across the Gulf of Mexico region. By partnering
and collaborating with minority scientific research and development laboratories
and institutes like Baaheth Laboratories at the University of South Alabama campus
in Mobile, Alabama, SEEs assist in ongoing strategic planning and development
initiatives that focus on increasing participation by community outreach
organizations, HBCUs across the region and school-age children to strengthen
their ability to connect to the Gulf of Mexico and its watershed. Such partnerships
and collaborative activities continue to provide opportunities that encourage
stewardship and future internships at the laboratory and institute, and increase
environment-related employment opportunities.

Making the Mark with Tutoring

Scope of Effort

A program designed to dedicate one-on-one time
with students in formal and informal settings.
Providing students with knowledge and information
on how to reconstruct complex issues and solve
problems. Centering the learning experience around
closing achievement gaps, eliminating barriers that
hinder students from mastering difficult subjects
and challenges that help them rethink possibilities,
discovering resources that life depends on, and
deepening their learning capabilities to increase
and change their conditions. Concentrating on
transferring skill sets for learning and making
learning a meaningful tool that will link to each
student's interest and prepare them for a promising
future and greater opportunities and resilience.

Partners

•	Gulfport Job Corps
Center

•	North Bay Elementary
School

•	BayAA/aveland Boys
and Girls Club

•	Helping Hands -
Afterschool Program

•	Local Workforce
Development Agency
(WIOA)

•	Gulf States Health
Policy Center

Summary

The tutoring program was created on the idea that students build resilience in
themselves, their families and the communities where they live, work and play.
We hoped that tutoring would bridge gaps, help students grasp foundational
concepts, give students unique learning experiences, and add advantages for
complete understanding of the challenges they may face later in life.

Results

This year more than 150 students in coastal states received core benefits from
seeking tutoring services. This service enabled students to develop better study
habits, improve persistence, increase self-esteem and satisfy many of their
goals. These innovations were designed across all dimensions of the student's
experience, from the classroom, partnerships, and with the broader community.

Symposium with
Indigenous Black
Indian Tribal Bands

GMD SEE staff partnered with
several indigenous Black Indian
tribal bands across regions 4 and 6
to host the first symposium
on special issues that directly
impact Black indigenous tribal
bands. Much of the focus was on
emergency disaster preparedness,
human health, environmental
health and environmental injustice
training needs. The symposium was
held on the Trail of Tears, hosted
by the mayor of Wrightsville,
Arkansas, and attended by several
tribal chiefs and tribal members
from various tribal bands in
regions 4 and 6. As an outcome
of symposium discussions, SEEs
worked with Region 6 staff to
coordinate with tribal members
to create innovative efforts to
meet specific emergency disaster
training needs, and to collaborate
with other federal agencies and
organizations in Region 6 to
provide additional resources,
information and training.

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National Academy of Sciences
(NAS) Fellows

The NAS Gulf Research Program's Science Policy Fellowship program helps scientists hone their skills by putting them to
practice for the benefit of Gulf Coast communities and ecosystems. Fellows gain firsthand experience at the interface of
science and policy as they spend one year assigned to staff of federal, state, local or non-governmental environmental,
natural resource, oil and gas, and public health agencies in the Gulf of Mexico region.

Huy Vu

Dr. Huy Vu has partnered with the Boy Scouts of America and a local
homeowner association in Texas to restore a section of a neighborhood
park to its native state. The newly created pocket prairie, consisting of
more than 80 native prairie plants, will provide a habitat for birds and
pollinators. In addition, the pocket prairie will educate the public on the
importance of the endangered coastal prairie ecosystem and the benefits
that it provides to the local community.

Dr. Vu was involved in various outreach events that educated 389
individuals in five communities along the Gulf Coast on important topics
affecting coastal communities, such as resource conservation, marine
debris, nurdles, the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem and microplastics. Also,
Dr. Vu has partnered with local schools in Georgia and Mississippi to
teach K-12 students about opportunities and careers in the STEM fields.

Dr. Vu is currently working on a project, PLAN-it Beach, to increase science
education and conservation awareness among high school students.
PLAN-it Beach will provide students with hands-on experience in the
scientific process by allowing them to create their own independent
research projects, and will give them the opportunity to participate in
restoring sand dunes along the beaches in Gulfport, Mississippi.

Abbey Hotard

Abbey Hotard was key in completing the Story Map that
showcases GMD's projects and their locations across the
Gulf of Mexico Watershed. The Story Map is located here:

https://arca.is/1mHaab

Projects can be viewed by type, including water quality,
habitat, environmental education, community resilience,
Trash-Free Waters and Farmer to Farmer. To help future
Story Map development and expansion. Abbey created an
SOP on how to create, update and manage the Story Map.
Abbey served on the Trash-Free Waters grant review team
and the Farmer to Farmer grant request writing team.

Some of Abbey's favorite partnership activities included
participating in the Turkey Creek Steering Committee in
Gulfport, Mississippi, and participating in the Gulf pollinator
project site visit with the Poarch Band of Creek Indians.

With all this on her plate, she also received her Floodplain
Manager certification while at GMD.

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Oak Ridge Institute for Science and
Education (ORISE) Participants

The Internship and Research Participation Programs at EPA are managed by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and
Education (ORISE) under an interagency agreement between EPA and the U.S. Department of Energy. The ORISE
Internship and Research Participation Programs at EPA are STEM-related educational and training programs designed
to provide students, recent graduates and university faculty opportunities to participate in project-specific EPA research
and developmental activities.

Colby McClain

Colby McClain has focused on a project that uses
mind mapping as a tool to identify, evaluate and
discuss environmental concerns of students in order to
gauge their overall environmental knowledge. Mind
maps are a way of visually organizing associative
information and can therefore provide an effective
representation of student concerns so that educators
can positively respond to the thoughts and feelings
of their students. In the exercise, students are asked
to reflect on what they perceive as the largest
environmental threat and create a mind map centered
around it. Then through individual and classroom
discussion, students are provided an outlet to share
their perspectives and think critically about the issues
and possible solutions. In addition, students and
teachers are provided with resources tailored to the
responses, as well as continued contact and support.

Rochelle Cole

Rochelle Cole has been continuing her research on the Lake
Pontchartrain Urban Waters Federal Partnership (UWFP) program,
where she has partnered with the Pontchartrain Conservancy,
Friends of Lafitte Greenway, the Great New Orleans Foundation,
Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans, and Adaptation
Strategies in New Orleans, Louisiana. The UWFP is seeking to help
communities, especially underserved communities, as they work
to access, improve and benefit from their urban waters and the
surrounding land. The UWFP aims to make it easier for residents
to access Lake Pontchartrain and make use of the recreational
amenities and environmental resources the lake can afford.
Rochelle assists federal and local partners through the facilitation
of workgroup meetings designed to foster increased connection,
understanding and stewardship of Lake Pontchartrain.

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ORISE

Richard Grady

Richard Grady is an undergraduate student studying Environmental
Biology at the University of Southern Mississippi. While assigned to
GMD he has worked in water quality research on the Turkey Creek
project and assisted Dr. Nancy Rabalais with the 2018 Shelf-wide
project. During these projects he has gained experience in quantitative
polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), PhyloChip and IDEXX bacterial
testing, as well as sediment and soil sampling. Richard is currently
working toward publishing a literature review about soil health
and microbiology in agriculture, with plans to continue water quality
research along Turkey Creek by deploying new, long-term sensors
for water quality data collection.

Amy Moody

Amy Moody has been continuing her work of looking at submarine
groundwater discharge (SGD) in Mississippi Sound. Her data analysis
indicated that while water flux from SGD is low (maybe 5% to 40%
of riverine input), the nutrient flux from groundwater is equal to
or greater than river input. She is now trying to determine how
much of the SGD is freshwater flow from the main aquifer and how
much is recirculating seawater intruding into the aquifer. This is
being done by analyzing oxygen and radium isotopes from sample
collections in the sound and in the local groundwater. She is also
continuing to process radium samples for the long-lived isotopes in
order to better constrain the water flux from SGD.

Kate Doering

Kate Doering's primary project for this year has
been the NFWF Quarterly Oyster Project with
MS DEQ. This project has included collection
of hydrographic profile data and of water for
nutrient and chlorophyll analysis. Along with
collecting water samples for this project, Kate has
also been looking through previous years' data
and making correlations between the quarters.

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EPA Awards

National Honor Awards

The EPA National Honor Awards are EPA's highest awards, given to celebrate the extraordinary achievements of
EPA employees and their contributions to EPA's mission of protecting human health and the environment.

Russell Train Sustainability Award

Dr. Troy Pierce, GMD's Chief Scientist, received the Russell Train Sustainability
Award along with three of his EPA headquarters colleagues for their several
years of international work with counterparts from other countries in the
Wider Caribbean Region, which includes the Gulf of Mexico, to finalize the very
first State of the Convention Area Report for the Land-Based Sources Protocol
to the Cartagena Convention.

Established in 2012 in honor of former Administrator Russell E. Train, an
innovative, collaborative and widely respected champion of environmental
protection and conservation, this award recognizes the achievements of an EPA
employee or group of employees who show outstanding leadership in assisting
stakeholders to achieve sustainability, as demonstrated by outcomes that have
long-term environmental, economic and social impacts, through the application
of innovative, collaborative and systemic approaches to problem-solving.

Silver Medal for Exceptional Service

The Trash-Free Waters Team, comprised of Amy Newbold, Bruce Binder, Calista Mills,

Chris Plymale, Danny Wiegand, Doug Jacobson, Elizabeth January, Geraldine Martin,

Jeanne Allen, Kathryn Millard, Rachel Houge, Renee Bellew, Robin Allen, Romell Nandi,

Tripp Boone, Troy Pierce and William Beiser, received a Silver Medal for Exceptional
Service for their commitment to reducing and preventing trash from entering
waterways and for efforts to stimulate positive environmental practices through
education and outreach.

By demonstrating outstanding abilities in devising and implementing the major agency
program of Trash-Free Waters (TFW) and directly supporting the Administrator's priority
for TFW, the TFW Team received the Silver Medal for creating and implementing EPA's
largest TFW effort. This effort included a $7.8 million partnership funding program
that was recently awarded to partners in the five Gulf states; three TFW projects that
have already been funded in Alabama and Mississippi and with the Choctaw Nation
of Oklahoma (all in the Gulf of Mexico Watershed); and hands-on cleanup efforts with
partners in multiple watersheds. This investment supports novel, experimental and/or
innovative technologies and approaches to prevent and remove trash in watersheds
and advance education and support to community-led efforts.

This award ranks second among EPA's honor awards and is used to recognize an individual or team for highly meritorious
service to the mission of environmental protection, unusual courage or competence in an employment-related emergency,
or excellence in supervision and leadership.

Congratulations to the Trash-Free Waters Team on their selection and continued great work!

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GULF OF MEXICO DIVISION

www.epa.aov/aulfofmexico

Mexico

Protecting Human Health
and the Environment

2510 14™ Street, Suite 1212 • Gulfport, MS 39501
(P) 228-679-5915 (F) 228-679-5921


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