Mississippi Trustees Seek Public Comment on Draft Restoration Plan 4

Posted on August 31, 2023 | Mississippi Restoration Area
a line is dropped into brown water from a bridge
Water quality testing in Newton County, Mississippi (Credit: Tina Nations)

The Mississippi Trustee Implementation Group has released its Draft Restoration Plan 4 and Environmental Assessment: Restoration of Wetlands, Coastal, and Nearshore Habitats, Nutrient Reduction, and Provide and Enhance Recreational Opportunities (PDF, 377 pages) for public review and comment through October 2, 2023. The plan proposes seven projects for implementation. These projects have a combined cost of approximately $26 million. 

The plan’s proposed restoration activities include:

  • acquisition of coastal lands from willing sellers in the three coastal counties;  
  • construction of up to three living shoreline bulkhead alternative projects;  
  • construction of an additional breakwater section of the Hancock County Marsh Living Shoreline Project; 
  • implementation of two watershed-scale nutrient reduction projects; and  
  • projects to provide recreational access and educational opportunities.  

The draft restoration plan is consistent with the Trustees’ Programmatic Restoration Plan.

We began this restoration planning effort on February 7, 2022, with publication of a Notice of Solicitation requesting the public submit project ideas to the Trustee Implementation Group. On October 11, 2022 we published a Notice of Initiation of Restoration Planning and began writing the draft plan.  

How to Submit Public Comments

The 30-day public review and comment period ends on October 2, 2023. We will accept public comments via the following methods:

Public Webinar Information

The trustees will post a pre-recorded webinar to present an overview of the draft restoration plan and the proposed preferred alternatives. It will be available at https://www.mdeq.ms.gov/restoration/ no later than September 15, 2023. 

After the public comment period ends, we will review, consider, and address public comments before releasing a final restoration plan and environmental assessment.  

Additional Documents