Kaptur Applauds $6.05M Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Support for Local Projects

March 26, 2015

Projects supported will help mitigate threats caused by erosion and runoff

WASHINGTON—Today Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, who co-chairs the House Great Lakes Task Force, praised officials at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Great Lakes Restoration Initiative for awarding $6,058,721 in Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) funding to help undo the harmful effects of erosion and runoff in Lake Erie and its tributaries.

“These projects reflect a growing awareness throughout our region and at all levels of government that we must take Great Lakes stewardship seriously,” said Kaptur. “This funding supports critical restoration work that will mitigate and in some cases undo significant damage caused by erosion and runoff in our region. I applaud the U.S. EPA for its continued engagement and foresight in funding these urgently-needed projects and in supporting the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.”

Lake Erie supports an estimated 120,000 jobs in Northern Ohio and generates upwards of $1.7 billion in total tax revenue. More than 3 million Ohio residents depend on Lake Erie for their drinking water. Tourism in the region accounts for approximately $12.9 billion in retail sales and $3.3 billion in employee wages. The Great Lakes fishery is the most valuable freshwater commercial fishery in the world valued at $7 billion.

Projects in Ohio’s 9^th Congressional District included in this round of GLRI funding:

Ohio Environmental Protection Agency ($3,696,182) will retire 270 acres of cropland, restore six miles of streams, stabilize 1,000 feet of eroding stream banks and restore 70 acres of wetlands at eight locations in the Maumee River watershed to prevent phosphorus from entering Lake Erie.
The Stewardship Network ($745,000) will work with partners to provide farmers in the River Raisin watershed with technical assistance on best practices to prevent nutrient runoff and soil erosion into the river and Lake Erie.
Ohio Environmental Protection Agency ($689,060) will expand agricultural conservation practices to 8,000 acres of cropland in five northern Ohio watersheds that flow into the Sandusky River. The project will reduce nutrient runoff and soil erosion into Lake Erie.

Two additional projects are located outside the district but will address runoff and erosion concerns passing through the district into Lake Erie. They include the following:

Western Reserve Land Conservancy ($750,000) will purchase 1,000 acres of easements in northern Ohio’s Grand River watershed -- protecting five miles of streams and 400 acres of wetland -- to reduce nutrient runoff and soil erosion that impacts Lake Erie.
Chagrin River Watershed Partners Inc. ($178,479) will partner with the City of Wickliffe, Ohio, and Cleveland Metroparks on a project to restore 640 feet of streams and wetlands in the Deer Creek/Gully Brook watershed. The project will reduce soil erosion and the quantity of nutrients and streambed sediment entering the Chagrin River and Lake Erie.

The EPA has funded more than 700 Great Lakes restoration and protection projects totaling over $570 million since 2010. So far this year the program has awarded $25 million to fund 29 projects. For more information about the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, visit https://greatlakesrestoration.us.

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