Celebrating The Donation Of 2,295 Acres For The Choctawhatchee River Delta Preserve In Walton County

Celebrating the donation of 2,295 acres for the Choctawhatchee River Delta Preserve in Walton County, there will be a ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, April 9, at 10 a.m.

Hosted by the Northwest Florida Water Management District and The Nature Conservancy, the event will take place at 87 Pitts Bayshore Drive in Freeport. Officials and partners will gather to commemorate the preservation of this significant tract of land along the Choctawhatchee River and Bay.

The Choctawhatchee River and Bay watershed covers approximately 3,339,632 acres. About 40 percent of this is within Florida, with the remainder in Alabama. Major tributaries of the river include Holmes, Wrights, Bruce, and Pine Log creeks in Florida and the Pea and Little Choctawhatchee rivers in Alabama. Direct tributaries of the bay include Alaqua, Rocky, Black, and Turkey creeks.  Choctawhatchee Bay covers approximately 129 square miles within Okaloosa and Walton counties. The watershed also includes a portion of the Sand Hill Lakes in Washington County, including recharge area for Floridan Aquifer springs discharging into Holmes Creek. The bay joins with the Gulf of Mexico at East Pass adjacent to the city of Destin and with Santa Rosa Sound to the west and the Intracoastal Waterway to the east. For planning purposes,  several coastal dune lakes within Walton County are also considered to be within the Choctawhatchee River and Bay watershed.

The Choctawhatchee River and Bay watershed is known for its rich and diverse ecology, economic benefits, and numerous recreational opportunities. Much of the Choctawhatchee River floodplain is protected as a public land. The District has acquired more than 63,000 acres of land along the river, Holmes Creek, and Choctawhatchee Bay to preserve the basin and its ecosystems and to provide for public access and use. Substantial conservation and recreation lands have also been acquired by the state in Walton, Bay, Okaloosa, and Washington counties.