Bayou Neighborhood Wetland Park Report

18.01 Program Summary: Bayou Auguste Neighborhood Wetland Park has transformed of a degraded landscape into a neighborhood nature park.

Building Area: (SF) 65,340 SF

Program Statement:

Cost per Square Foot: $4.92

This project implements part of a community plan for East Biloxi, a low-income, raciallymixed community devastated by Hurricane Katrina. The design team secured multiple grants, leading a partnership of the City of Biloxi, the Biloxi Housing Authority, the Biloxi Public School District, and a local land trust, to leverage grant funds with in-kind and volunteer labor.

The bayou’s wetland habitat had been seriously impacted over time. Its natural meandering course was straightened straightened, forming a steeply cut channel that degraded the bayou’s bayou s function and aesthetic appeal. To reveal the site’s social and ecological potential, the project reshaped the stream banks to create tidal marsh habitat and open views into the constructed wetland. To provide streambank stability and stormwater filtration, a gabion wall was constructed reusing concrete from the removed retaining wall and filled with locallysourced oyster shells. These same materials were used in making an outfall structure, which reduces stormwater velocity and prevents erosion at the mouth of the stormwater culvert.

Volunteers participated in the construction of these elements, as well as, installing erosion control materials, 5000 native plants, and debris removal, contributing over 2800 hours of service.

Educational programs engaged the local community and students on ways to improve the bayou’s important functions: 1) to restore and improve nursery habitat for fish and shrimp, essential to the local economy; 2) to reduce pollution and debris entering the ocean through the integrated bayou and stormwater system; and 3) to create marshland to contain floodwater from extreme storm events. Finally, Bayou Auguste provides an important opportunity for the community to enjoy wildlife wildlife, encourages environmental stewardship stewardship, and fosters an appreciation for the unique coastal environment that makes Biloxi home.

Construction Cost: $321,295 Date of Completion: February 2012

18.02 An urban bayou has multiple functions: first, this tidal habitat is the nursery for marine life, including shrimp, which is both economically and culturally important to Biloxi. The complex marine and brackish ecology provides habitat for many birds, mammals and reptiles, the American Alligator being the apex species.

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Secondly this system Secondly, functions to transport stormwater. The East Biloxi peninsula is approximately a mile wide and generally less than fifteen feet above sea level making bayous an level, essential transition in the short distance downstream to the ocean.

Thirdly, bayous provide land f flood for fl d inundation i d ti d during i extreme high tides caused by storm events. Finally, urban bayous have a social role and are used by residents for fishing, enjoying wildlife, and bringing to mind the unique coastal environment that makes Biloxi home.

18.03 Bayou Auguste is surrounded y low-lying y g wet land with low by property value and as a result was chosen for use as a public housing site.

Development of the area over time seriously impacted the bayou’s wetland habitat. The natural stepped profile of the bayou, created by the changing tidal water level, was replaced with a rigid and steep channel providing minimal habitat or recreational value.

Trash dumped into the bayou, such as tires and shopping carts was left indefinitely and carts, garbage that washed through the storm drains piled up along the banks. A long-time resident recalled when the bayou divided an African A American i public bli h housing i neighborhood from a white neighborhood and said, “I remember when they were pulling dead bodies from the bayou.”

18.04 Hurricane Katrina destroyed over half of the homes in East Biloxi and flooded many of those remaining. However, along with the destruction came an increased awareness of the need for public engagement in the recovery process. Most of the planning work was focused on Front Beach and tourist related waterfront development. These efforts did not include the residents who generally wanted to conserve their neighborhoods.

The design team worked with the underrepresented members of the community to produce plans shaped by their values and concerns. Many long-time residents recalled a time when the bayou was a natural t l waterway t and d was frequented for recreation and fishing. Restoring Bayou Auguste has been an important part of the East Biloxi community’s effort to rise above a long history of being undervalued and to make a public asset from neglected and degraded land.

18.05 The project began by g g environmental organizing education activities with the local public schools. At the same time the Deep Water Horizon oil spill was spoiling the Gulf of Mexico, the design team initiated work with the local public school to teach students and their parents about the ecology of the bayou. Students were engaged in various educational activities including, creating a mural for the school, applying studentdesigned stencils of animals and slogans to the bridge crossing the bayou and to storm drain inlets in the neighborhood.

The activities with school children were combined with community meetings to engage residents id t iin th the project and change perceptions of the bayou from a place to fear because of snakes and alligators to a neighborhood asset. High school students were later involved in monthly water quality testing, seed colleting, and native plant propagation for use in the project.

18.06

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The design team secured p g grants and led a multiple partnership of the City of Biloxi, the Biloxi Housing Authority, Biloxi Public Schools, and a local land trust to leverage grant funds with in-kind in kind and volunteer labor.

Each grant combined external funding with in-kind labor to multiply the impact of the project.

The project does not have a conventional client. The design team and partner organizations worked together to find funding and to organize volunteers to accomplish the work work. A wetlands ecologists provided technical assistance and project monitoring. The City of Biloxi’s Department of Public Works provided the heavy equipment i t and d skilled kill d operators for demolition and removal of a retaining wall and for reshaping the streambank to create new marsh habitat.

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18.06 The project is part of a master plan for the entire Bayou p y Auguste, which extends from Biloxi’s Back Bay through vacant lots, continues along city and school property, and then bisects two large public housing neighborhoods until it disappears into a culvert.

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The goals of the Bayou Auguste project are to restore and expand the natural habitat to make a beautiful habitat, natural place free of invasive species and litter, to provide public access and learning opportunities, and to increase local environmental stewardship. stewardship The entire bayou is being divided into projects areas that correspond to the amount of work made possible by various i grantt opportunities. t iti

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18.07 The plan of the project area shows the transformation from a straight channel into a stream with a meandering path.

A 275 foot concrete retaining wall was demolished, over 3000 cubic yards of soil was removed, the streambank was regraded to create a new marsh flat.

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The cross sections show the shaping of the stream bed to create a range of tidal habitats. The different plant zones are created by precise grading, as marsh habitat is affected by slight differences in the relationship between the low and high tide levels.

An area of overgrown trees was mostly removed, creating an island i l d tto fframe th the view i into the adjacent wetland.

18.08 The process of erosions control installations, streambank reshaping, and native species planting involved work with the project partners. In addition, residents of the adjacent public housing development participated in site construction activities along with students and local volunteers.

The involvement of individuals and families in the adjacent public housing development was crucial to the goals of increasing environmental stewardship and awareness of the beneficial ecological function, social use, and economic impact of urban bayous.

18.09 A 275 foot Gabion wall was constructed to delineate the park and playground from the naturalized landscape. The wall provides a place to sit and allows storm water to filter through.

The wall is made from oyster shells and reused concrete from the demolished retaining wall. Biloxi residents recognize oyster shells as part of the history and economy of the Gulf Coast.

The hand-made wall brings value to the place and provides form to the wetland park. park

18.10 The project initiated site interventions that will i increasingly i l enhance h and d add dd value to this neighborhood over time.

The intentionally designed streambanks frame views into the wetland park and provide clear sightlines from safe use of the park space.

The future addition of trails and overlooks will increase overall site accessibility and further add value to and awareness of the essential contribution of healthy tidal marsh habitat to the local economy, culture, and safety of the local population, while providing habitat for local key species.

The process of the transformation of this landscape, place, and the public perception of Bayou Auguste is a major key to the regeneration of East Biloxi.

The project intends to incrementally add value over time, as the plants mature, as the birds, fish, and mammals inhabit the stream and its banks, and as the neighborhood resumes access to and use of this amenity.

18.11 Bayou Auguste Neighborhood Wetland Park has transformed a degraded tidal stream into a landscape where nature and community come together. The project has also helped transform the surrounding East Biloxi neighborhood that has a long history of being undervalued.

The technical and organizational work of the project’s design team has brought national partners partners, the city’s public works department, school children, and hundreds of volunteers together to create a natural park out of a neglected bayou The many hands that bayou. have made the project manifest a commitment to both the environment and to the people of East Biloxi.