Pensacola Bay, Carpenter's Creek and Bayou Texar

Bayou Texar is one of Pensacola's greatest natural assets, but protecting it requires long-term coordination between government, scientists, property owners, environmental organizations, and the people who live along its shores.

As Mayor, I will establish a Bayou Texar Restoration Board to serve as a community partnership dedicated to restoring and protecting the entire Bayou Texar watershed.

Rather than creating another government bureaucracy, this board will bring existing partners together around one table, including representatives from the Pensacola and Perdido Bays Estuary Program, the City of Pensacola, Escambia County, ECUA, neighborhood associations, waterfront property owners, environmental organizations, local universities, businesses, and community volunteers. The goal will be to coordinate projects, pursue grants, monitor progress, and ensure the public has a voice in the future of the bayou.

The board will focus on practical priorities such as improving water quality, restoring Carpenter Creek, reducing stormwater pollution, expanding living shorelines, increasing public access where appropriate, protecting wildlife habitat, supporting environmental education, and coordinating volunteer cleanups. It will also serve as a forum for reviewing restoration projects before they move forward and identifying new opportunities for funding and partnerships.

The Pensacola and Perdido Bays Estuary Program has already demonstrated the value of bringing multiple partners together on projects like the Carpenter Creek Restoration Project, which includes the City, Escambia County, ECUA, FDOT, and numerous community stakeholders. 

My administration would build on those successful partnerships while giving Bayou Texar its own dedicated local advisory board focused exclusively on the health of this treasured waterway.