"Southern Company and Gulf Power have been invaluable in their support of our organization's efforts to promote the environmental health of the Choctawhatchee Basin watershed and other northwest Florida ecosystems."
Brittany Tate
senior grant manager
Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance
Brittany Tate of Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance enjoys a beautiful sunset while kayaking on Western Lake in south Walton County, Florida.
To help promote conservation efforts, Gulf Power participates in the Five Star and Urban Waters Restoration Program, a partnership of Southern Company, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and other organizations supporting water resource stewardship through community involvement and education.
The program has supported water restoration projects in northwest Florida involving 46 different organizations, including government and non-profit agencies, schools and community groups. One such initiative is Project Greenshores, which created an oyster reef breakwater in Pensacola Bay that serves as a model for the restoration of other disturbed estuarine shorelines. In addition to building the reefs, Gulf Power and community volunteers planted marsh and spartina grasses that help stabilize the soil and remove nutrients from storm water runoff on the islands behind the breakwaters.
Gulf Power also supports the conservation efforts of organizations such as the Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance of Northwest Florida State College, which conducts water quality monitoring in coastal dune lakes and engages citizens to practice environmentally sound land management.
Since 2003, Southern Company has invested more than $11.9 million in wildlife and environmental stewardship programs in the Southeast.
