The Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance, the nonprofit arm of Northwest Florida State College that has spent more than three decades restoring and monitoring local waterways, is expanding its mission and changing its name to the Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance Estuary Program.
- The name change comes with a broader mandate. The organization will now serve as a hub coordinating restoration, monitoring, research, education and community partnerships across the Choctawhatchee watershed.
The transition comes as the region works toward elevating the watershed’s national profile and unlocking additional federal and state funding for restoration.
“This is the next chapter for CBA,” said Alison McDowell, Executive Director of the Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance. “This evolution of our existing model gives us the opportunity to bring more people together, connect the work that’s already happening, and take on some of the bigger challenges facing the Choctawhatchee watershed.”
Under the CBAEP umbrella, the organization will continue its core work, including habitat restoration, water quality monitoring, watershed science and classroom education programs such as Grasses in Classes. It will also take on a coordinating role among local governments, scientists, nonprofits and volunteer groups with the goal of reducing duplicated effort and stretching limited resources further.
- The program will pursue a broader range of funding, including grants tied to estuary-wide programs, and will serve as a central point of contact for residents, partners and funders working to protect the Choctawhatchee’s bays, rivers and coastal waters.
The effort builds on years of groundwork laid by Okaloosa, Walton, Holmes and Washington counties as founding members of the Choctawhatchee Bay Estuary Coalition. That coalition developed the region’s first Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan and worked to bring partners together around shared priorities for the watershed.
“Okaloosa County was proud to help get this effort started and to bring people together around a shared vision for the Choctawhatchee watershed,” said Okaloosa County Commission Chair Trey Goodwin. “The work that has been done over the years has created a strong foundation. Moving the Estuary Program forward through CBA and Northwest Florida State College gives us an opportunity to build on that foundation and bring even more partners to the table.”
Walton County Commissioner Brad Drake said the watershed’s needs don’t stop at county lines.
“We need our counties, cities, scientists, businesses, nonprofits and residents working together,” Drake said. “In our work together in the past, CBA has already shown that it can bring people together and get things done, and this next step gives our County and the rest of the region a stronger platform to coordinate that work.”
The program will remain hosted by Northwest Florida State College, which includes all four original anchoring counties in its service area.
- “Northwest Florida State College is honored to be the home of CBA and to support this next chapter,” said NWFSC President Mel Ponder. “We have a strong commitment to environmental stewardship, so this is a natural fit for the College. We have the people, partnerships, and educational resources to help CBAEP grow its impact throughout our region.”
Over the past 30-plus years, CBA has restored oyster reefs and seagrass beds, monitored water quality, educated thousands of local students and mobilized volunteers throughout the Choctawhatchee watershed. That hands-on work will continue without interruption under the new name.
For more information, visit basinalliance.org.
