GOMESA Application Details

Internal Project Number: 1191
1. Title of Project: Mississippi Sound Coalition
2. Location of Project: Harrison County
3. Requesting Organization: Harrison County Board of Supervisors
4a. Name: Pamela J. Ulrich
4b. Position
4c. Phone Number: 228-865-4166
4d. Fax Number
4e. Address Line 1: P.O. Drawer CC
4e. Address Line 2
4e. City, State Zip: Gulfport, MS 39502
4f. Email: pulrich@co.harrison.ms.us
5. FundingRequested: $3,000,000
Awarded Amount:: $0
6. Other State or Federal Funding Sources: No
7a. Amount of Additional Funds: $0
7b. Source of Additional Funds
8. Total Project Funds Amount: $3,000,000
9. Project Description/Overview: Continue the work of the Mississippi Sound Coalition, an unincorporated association of Mississippi Coast municipalities, counties, fishermen, and seafood and tourism businesses whose mission is to restore, preserve, and protect the ecosystem of the Mississippi Sound estuary and the economy that depends on it. The Harrison County Board of Supervisors will serve as administrator of the Project in consultation with members of the Coalition. The Harrison County Board will engage scientific, engineering, economic, legal, consulting, and other professional services for management and execution of the Project to achieve Project goals and objectives. The Project will advocate public policies and legal actions to restore, preserve, and protect marine wildlife and the habitat of protected species in the Mississippi Sound estuary.
10. Project Goals/Objectives: Scientific research and public education, outreach, and advocacy: The Project will advocate public policies, legislation, and legal actions to restore, preserve, and protect marine wildlife and the habitat of protected species in the Mississippi Sound estuary. The Coalition will commmission key scientific and engineering research that will directly inform restoration of the Mississippi Sound and management for maximum productivity. The Coalition will conduct public educational forums and liaison with federal and state officials, educational institutions, and non-governmental civic, business, and environmental entities, to raise public understanding of the devastating harm to the Mississippi Sound caused by low salinity and toxic Mississippi River water and other pollutants discharged from the Bonnet Carre Spillway and other sources and to promote public support for win-win solutions for management of the Mississippi River and other waterways and for restoring and maintaining water quality in the Mississippi Sound estuary to achieve long-term sustainability of marine life and protection of human health and businesses in the communities that border the Sound.
11. Which of the following authorized uses set forth in the GOMESA Act does this project fall under?

(A) Projects and activities for the purpose of coastal protection, including conservation, coastal restoration, hurricane protection, and infrastructure directly affected by coastal wetlands losses

(B) Mitigation of damage to fish, wildlife, or natural resources.: Yes: Studies, analyses and education components will be used to mitigate adverse impacts on resources and provide future protection of the ecosystem

(C) Implementation of a federally-approved marine, coastal, or conservation management plan.

(D) Mitigation of the impact of Outer Continental Shelf activities through funding of onshore infrastructure projects.

12. Project Timetable/Milestones: Fiscal year 2025: July - September, 2025: procure professionals for Project Tasks 1 through 5. October 2025 - June 2026: carry out first full fiscal year of performance of Project Tasks 1 through 7. Fiscal Year 2026: July 2025 - June 2026: carry out second full fiscal year of performance of all seven tasks. Project tasks: 1. Contract for appropriate scientific and engineering studies. 2. Contract with professional consultants to draft legislation, ordinances, and executive public policies and to prepare future grant applications to carry forward the mission of the Mississippi Sound Coalition. 3. Contract with professional consultants to conduct public hearings, publish findings of the scientific and engineering studies and public policies produced Tasks #1 and #2, and present them to appropriate federal and state officials. 4. Contract with professional consultant to manage Project tasks and the activities of the Mississippi Sound Coalition. 5. Contract with legal professionals to advocate legal remedies in judicial and administrative agency forums, as needed to restore, preserve, and protect the ecosystem of the Mississippi Sound estuary, human health, and the economy that depends on a healthy sound. 6. Advocate public federal, state, and local public policies to restore, preserve, and protect marine wildlife and the habitat of protected species in the Mississippi Sound estuary. 7. Form alliances with other local governments, businesses, and communities in the Mississippi River Basin and along the Gulf Coast to advance Project Benefits.
13. Project Timing: Short-term
14. Current status of architectural/engineering plans & specifications for this project (if applicable):

15. In what way does this project meet the goals and objectives of the Department of Marine Resources, which includes enhancing, protecting and conserving the marine interest of Mississippi for present and future generations?: The Project seeks to prevent freshwater, cyanobacteria algae blooms caused by extended discharge of Mississippi River water from the Bonnet Carre Spillway and other sources, of the kind that caused MDEQ to close the waters of the Mississippi sound from public use in 2019. Failure to prevent such events would results in no public access at all to tidelands for long periods of time. The Project will advocate public policies to restore, preserve, and protect marine wildlife and the habitat of protected species in the Mississippi Sound estuary.

16. Estimated Years To Completion: 2
17. Estimated Completion Date: 6/30/2026

Budget:

Salaries,Wages, Fringe: $0
Travel: $0
Architecture & Engineering: $500,000
Legal: $1,000,000
Consulting: $500,000
Construction: $0
Site Work: $0
Equipment: $0
Indirects: $0
Other: $1,000,000
Total: $3,000,000


Application Submission Date: 07/24/2023
Fiscal Year: 2025
Project Status: Not Awarded
Application Status: Accepted
Meets Criteria: Yes
Internal Notes:
Attachments:
Hyperlink:: Attachments

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