In addition to conducting regular business, DRCR s board heard presentations by Malcolm Steeves of Mobile Area Water and Sewer System and John Crawford with Mobile City Engineering Department. Working with local politicians Thanks to support from Mayor Mike Dow, two sites that had initially planned to destroy wetlands in the Dog River Watershed and buy credits in a Baldwin County mitigation bank were required to mitigate within the Dog River Watershed. What we really need now is a mitigation bank within our own watershed. Several large wetlands still exist on Halls Mill Creek, but it takes capital and expertise to buy property and start a mitigation bank. If you or someone you know is interested in pursuing this, contact us.
Mitigation banks work in other places, and they usually make money in the long run.
Several dangerous snags were removed from Dog River this year due to cooperative communication between DRCR and city officials. One of our board members, Terry Plauche, was recently appointed to the Mobile Planning Commission. It is impossible to push for enforcement at every site without a silt fence or to review every permit for wetland fill. As president of DRCR, I write many letters on the organization s behalf. I have been especially troubled by the situation associated with the channelization projects on Bolton Branch at McVay and at Moore Creek and Halls Mill Road because I have personally monitored those sites for over a year.