MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) – The Mobile Bay National Estuary Program is using innovation and science to improve water quality along the Alabama coast. Cody Aloi joined Studio 10 to share more. He discussed the Wastewater Detection Canine Program featuring “Professor X,” a Belgian Malinois trained to detect human sources of untreated wastewater in local waterways. The program was developed through collaboration with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Alabama Department of Public Health, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, and the Cities of Fairhope and Mobile. By adapting military scent-detection techniques to environmental science, Professor X can locate contamination with near-perfect accuracy, helping agencies respond quickly to protect Mobile Bay.
Aloi also explained how the program grew from the previous Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan, which identified pathogens as a top threat to water quality, and how the new CCMP continues that momentum with a broader focus on both pathogens and sediment. The initiative demonstrates how science, partnership, and innovation can translate planning into real-world action for a cleaner, healthier Bay…