Mayor Robert Williamson of Florala recently was appointed the at-large director for Covington County on the board of directors of the Choctawhatchee, Pea and Yellow Rivers Watershed Management Authority (CPYRWMA). Probate Judge Ben Bowden administered the oath of office Thursday.

Williamson currently is serving his second term as mayor of Florala. He is a graduate of the University of West Florida with a bachelor’s degree in political science. He is the owner of WKWL and WGYV radio stations in Florala and Greenville, and the owner of JockJive, a sports broadcasting company providing game coverage for the NJCAA, SWAC, Perfect Game, and Great American Rivalry Series. He currently serves as a board member for SARCOA and Southeast Alabama Mental Health. He is a former member of the Florala City Council and the former chair of the city’s Planning and Zoning Board.

The CPYRWMA is a state agency established by the legislature in 1991 and is responsible for developing plans and programs relating to water resource management in the ares of water quality, water quantity, flood control, and water conservation education. It is the only watershed management authority in Alabama that is a state agency.

The river basin covers 2.3 million acres In southeast Alabama. The CPYRWMA is non-regulatory and governed by a 16-member board of directors selected from the 10 southeastern counties, and appointed by the Soil and Water Conservation District in each county.

Other counties include Barbour, Bullock, Coffee, Crenshaw, Dale, Geneva, Henry, Houston and Pike.