South Earns $1 Million EPA Grant to Improve Water Quality in Gulf
Posted on September 16, 2026
The University of South Alabama has received a 4-year, $1 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to improve water quality and strengthen local economies.
“This project will develop and implement innovative floating wetlands in Alabama and Mississippi waterways to improve water quality, reduce nutrient pollution and mitigate harmful algal blooms,” said Dr. Shenghua Wu, professor in USA’s department of civil, coastal and environmental engineering and the project’s principal investigator. “These engineered nature-based solutions will capture and remove excess nutrients while enhancing habitat, biodiversity, and ecosystem health.”
The floating wetland island will be a buoyant platform that supports the growth of native aquatic vegetation, with roots extending into the water column to absorb nutrients and stimulate microbial activity. The prototypes will include AI-powered sensors and data collection framework for monitoring water quality and vegetation growth.
“We will build at least three floating wetlands and place them at various locations in Alabama and Mississippi, states which share interconnected watersheds, estuarine systems and economic drivers,” Wu said.
The project, one of 24 selected, will evaluate performance of the floating islands through water quality monitoring, nutrient reduction analysis and ecological indicators.
“This project fixes pollution at the source by stopping farm fertilizer from washing into rivers before reaching the Gulf,” Wu said.
Because the islands float on existing water bodies, they will remove runoff without taking productive cropland out of service, protecting farm acreage and profits while restoring downstream oxygen to safeguard coastal fishing jobs.
