Why is Mobile Bay so vital to Alabama?
Mobile Bay is Alabama’s central estuary system and provides a transitional zone, where the river’s freshwater meets tidally influenced marine waters. Estuaries are considered environmentally and economically important because of their exceptional biological diversity and productivity. The estuary also provides flood control, natural filtration buffers for water quality, erosion control, recreation, and beautiful scenery. The outflow of the Mobile River into Mobile Bay creates a delta and extensive marshlands. There is a vast network of waterways, with a total of over 200 rivers, bays, creeks, bayous, lakes, cutoffs, branches, and sloughs. With a flow of 62,000 cubic feet per second, on average, the Mobile Bay estuary has the fourth largest freshwater flow in the continental United States. Mobile Bay is our history, our economy, our life and our love. It must be preserved for us as well as for future generations.
