From Failed to Functioning - EWP Helping Restore Communities

by Julie A. Best, Public Affairs Specialist, USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, Auburn, AL

The City of Prichard, Alabama, borders the north side of the City of Mobile. With a population that has been declining for many years, the town struggles financially. The current population is listed as 27,963.

High Pointe Golf Course is an important part of the local community. It provides economic income for the city and it serves as a positive recreational activity in the community. Hurricane Katrina left a mark on the High Pointe Golf Course. With trees on the ground and the rush of water from the storm, the golf course drainage system totally collapsed.

The Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) program is a program administered by the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to provide technical and financial assistance to municipalities that have experiences damage from natural disasters. Eligible measures include repair of existing water control structures, removing debris and sediment from channels and ditches, and establishing vegetative cover to control erosion and protect the streambanks.

After Hurricane Katrina, the district conservationist serving Mobile County contacted each of the municipalities in the county to ascertain if there was damage to infrastructure. The City of Prichard responded to that inquiry and a damage survey report was filed.

NRCS Resource Engineer Randall East talks about the storm damage. “There was an old pipe drainage system starting at the head of the golf course. The system had failed and was posing a safety hazard. The golf course is a public facility and there was erosion around the bridge that was a hazard. When we did the damage survey reports, it didn’t take a lot to get the benefits established. When you consider how much a golf course is used in a community, it’s a real important segment of the city’s property, and the hazards needed to be repaired.” There were gullies all the way from the top of the course to the bottom. The piped system had failed. At the outlet at the end of the drainage system, there was a substantial gully. East says, “We estimated on the damage survey report that the restored drainage system would control between 300-500 tons per year of annual erosion.”

Trent Mathews, Mobile County District Conservationist, says, “At the top of the golf course, there was a pipe system under ground that was designed to carry the water all the way down the golf course. The drainage system failed and caused large gullies. To repair the damage, we reworked the existing drainage area. We removed the old piping system and installed a rock-lined waterway to handle the water that was coming off the drainage area.”

Lenice Emanuel, Director of Grants and Community Development for the City of Prichard, said, “The system installed was a riprap, rock-lined waterway. A landscape architect made the suggestion that the waterway be constructed in a meandering course to follow the natural terrain. As a result, while the project served to restore the drainage system, it actually enhanced the beautification of the golf course.”

One of the hazards resulting from the storm damage was the culvert that goes under the road leading from a residential community to the golf course. Mathews says, “There was a tremendous amount of debris in the ditches near the culvert. The debris had the drains clogged and the water could not flow properly. Because of the clogged drains, the water was eroding the concrete culvert structure that carried the water under the road. We cleared the debris, widened the drainage area, shaped it, and established the sides of the ditch, and then carried the water to a stable outlet.”

City of Prichard officials praise the work of NRCS. Mayor Ron Davis says, "The City of Prichard has benefited greatly from the funds acquired from NRCS. The High Pointe Golf Course is one of our greatest assets. NRCS has been a leader in providing both financial and technical assistance to help us restore this important segment of our community." Lacynthia Adams, Manager of High Pointe Golf Club, says, “All phases of the work went well.” And, Emanuel says, “NRCS employees are the consummate professionals. The spirit in which they assisted us was one that really promoted cooperation. It was a wonderful collaboration.”

The cost of the total project was $762,652; NRCS funded 75 percent of the cost and the City of Prichard picked up the remaining 25 percent.

From eroded gullies to aesthetically pleasing rocked waterways, the High Pointe Golf Course has been restored to a facility that is both profitable for the City of Prichard and environmentally sound. The failed drainage system has been restored and the storm water now flows to a stable outlet.

Helping People Help the Land is the mission of NRCS. Some of those people are in rural communities and others are in urban settings. The mission, however, is the same.

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