The Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance (CBA) of Northwest Florida State College, the region's leading nonprofit dedicated to caring for local waterways, announced it is evolving into the Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance Estuary Program (CBAEP). The new name reflects an expanded role: coordinating restoration, monitoring, research, education, and community partnerships under one unified effort to protect and improve the watersheds and estuaries the region depends on.
The transition comes as the region continues to work toward long-term goals for the Choctawhatchee watershed, including efforts to elevate the watershed’s national profile and unlock additional federal and state resources for restoration.
Under the CBAEP umbrella, the organization will:
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• Continue its core programs, including habitat restoration, water quality monitoring, watershed science, and classroom education such as Grasses in Classes.
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• Coordinate projects among local governments, scientists, nonprofits, and volunteer groups to reduce duplicated effort and stretch limited resources further.
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• Pursue and secure a broader range of funding, including grants tied to estuary-wide programs, to accelerate restoration across the watershed.
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• Serve as a central point of contact for residents, partners, and funders working to protect the Choctawhatchee’s bays, rivers, and coastal waters.
CBAEP’s mission remains rooted in the same values that have guided CBA since its founding: that healthy waters build healthy communities, that science should be practical and put to work, and that the best conservation happens when people and groups with different strengths work toward a shared purpose.
“This is the next chapter for CBA,” said Alison McDowell, Executive Director of 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.”
For more than three decades, 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. What's expanding is the scope: CBAEP will also serve as a hub connecting scientists, government agencies, businesses, and residents, helping the region attract funding, reduce duplication of effort, and move conservation projects forward faster and more effectively.
As the program moves forward hosted by Northwest Florida State College and including all four original anchoring counties, it carries that foundation into its next phase, with a stable home to build on and room to grow across the entire watershed.
“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.”
The transition builds on years of work by local governments and community partners to establish a coordinated approach to protecting the Choctawhatchee 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.”
Okaloosa County and other founding members of the Choctawhatchee Bay Estuary Coalition, including Walton, Holmes, and Washington Counties, laid important groundwork for the Estuary Program, including development of the region’s first Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan and efforts to bring partners together around shared priorities for the watershed.
“This is a watershed that crosses county lines, and the health of our water doesn’t stop at those lines,” said Walton County Commissioner Brad Drake . “We need our counties, cities, scientists, businesses, nonprofits and residents working together. 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.”
For more information about the Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance Estuary Program, visit basinalliance.org
