Putting Green Infrastructure on the Map in Mississippi

If you live in Moss Point, Mississippi, flooding is a familiar disruption to daily life. In the city’s Rose Drive neighborhood, for example, residents always have sandbags in case of flooding. However, with support from the Grand Bay Reserve, Moss Point is changing this reality through the River City Flood Ready Initiative. Launched with a Bipartisan Infrastructure Law grant in 2023, the initiative aims to make Moss Point a safer, greener, and more resilient place to live through science, community knowledge, and nature-based solutions like rain gardens, green spaces, and restored streams. 

“We are all in this together, which is why it is so important and gratifying that Pascagoula, Moss Point, Jackson County, and the Grand Bay Reserve have come together like this,” says Moss Point Mayor Billy Knight. “It’s a win-win to be on the same page on how to solve our flooding problems and the best funding approach to solve each stormwater problem.”

Flooding in Moss Point.

Intended as a long-term hub for this work along Mississippi’s coast, the initiative’s website showcases projects, stores educational resources, and connects residents and professionals. Visitors can explore flood preparation checklists, download resources, and learn from a growing group of stormwater professionals. A reporting feature will allow residents to flag blocked ditches, which will be cleared by Reserve-led volunteers. The site also includes a dashboard of live monitoring data of a current stormwater garden, including soil temperature, soil moisture, and rainfall. In the future, they hope to expand to comprehensive details on nutrients, dissolved oxygen, and water level. 

“These data can provide critical proof that green infrastructure is functioning as intended,” says Margo Posten, the Reserve’s training and engagement coordinator. “We are hoping that data-driven proof will simultaneously build trust and support smarter decision-making along the coast.” 

Two planned stormwater gardens in Moss Point have already put the Reserve’s technical know-how and community connections to work. In the first, the Reserve invited residents to help design the park, settling on a neighborhood-scale stormwater park. The park sits just north of the Rose Drive neighborhood, infamous for flood issues, and is designed to capture and slow stormwater that would otherwise flood the nearby streets. The Reserve also helped install a stormwater garden near Kreole Elementary in Moss Point which has made notable reductions in street and parking lot flooding. 

Both projects are helping educate decision-makers and the public about the benefits of green infrastructure in stormwater management. During a heavy rain near the school, city leaders noticed a street that normally floods had remained free of water. Mayor of Moss Point, Billy Knight Sr., points to these results as proof that future projects are worth pursuing.

None of this would have been possible without the Reserve’s established connections in the local community. By connecting scientists, stormwater professionals, contractors, local organizations in Moss Point, and local leaders, the Grand Bay Reserve has helped bring green infrastructure into the conversation in coastal Mississippi. 

“The website is designed to grow as more projects are announced,” says Dennis McGrury, the Reserve’s program development manager. “We want it to be a go-to hub for all things green infrastructure in coastal Mississippi.”