Foley, Ala. — (OBA) —  Foley is moving forward with drainage upgrades in the Beulah Heights area. The city council recently accepted a state grant to fund the work. The improvements aim to reduce flooding and filter pollutants reaching Wolf Creek. The project will also protect water quality in Wolf Bay.

The work updates a 480-acre stormwater facility that the city started building in 2008. The Alabama Department of Environmental Management is providing the grant funding. Mayor Ralph Hellmich said the original project created a retention basin for water that had been flowing into Wolf Creek.

"The water was going directly into Wolf Creek and degrading it, because there was no retention," Hellmich said. "This put that water into a retention basin, and that worked really well."

Hellmich said the current round of improvements will enable the city to extend its drainage efforts further upstream. He explained that replacing old pipes alone would not be effective without the downstream improvements already implemented.

"When you get this system in place, you can start going upstream and replacing pipes," Hellmich said. "That won't do any good without the improvements. It's really a regional program to fix the Beulah Heights area."

Foley Sustainability and Natural Resources Director Leslie Gahagan said the project will increase the system's capacity and reduce the risk of damage to the stormwater drainage network. She stated the upgrades will provide stormwater in the area with a proper outlet.

"This project is to retrofit it to fit more in low-impact development, to increase the capacity so that the stormwater in that area will now have a place to go," she said.

"The stormwater will be filtered out for pollutants before it discharges to Wolf Creek in the south," Gahagan added.

In addition to the state grant, Foley also received funding from the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program to help cover part of the project costs. Gahagan said having two sources of outside money will help the city close the remaining funding gaps.

"This is a really good project, and we've received funding already for this project from another source of money, and so this is a second source that's come in that will help close the gaps," Gahagan said.

The new phase of work will also include a system designed to trap sediment before it settles into the retention pond. In the past, Foley Public Works crews had to bring in heavy equipment to dig out built-up sediment from the pond to keep the system functioning.

"That wasn't very feasible," Gahagan said. "This allows us to maintain it in perpetuity."