Bay County leaders establish St. Andrews/St. Joe Bays Estuary Program

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WJHG) - Bay County leaders are taking steps towards improving the water quality of our surrounding bays.

Tuesday, county commissioners approved an amendment to the county’s RESTORE Act plan to add a project creating the St. Andrews/St. Joe Bays Estuary Program. The program will be hosted by the Florida State University in Panama City with a goal of restoring and preserving the bays.

”The health of the bay directly affects our fisheries and it affects how the fish go out into the Gulf and its just an array of steps that need to be taken place and the health of our bay- that’s where the importance comes in,” said Bay County commissioner, William “Bill” Dozier.

The Nature Conservancy also provided a $1 million grant as match to help establish the program.

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