News
Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September
15, 2005
OHIO LAKE ERIE COMMISSION AWARDS
NEARLY $600,000
TO THREE LAKE ERIE WATERSHED
PILOT PROJECTS
Projects support Governor Taft’s Lake Erie Protection
and Restoration Plan
TOLEDO,
OH – A total of $596,514 in state grants
to fund watershed-protection pilot projects in the Toledo,
Cleveland and Medina areas were approved yesterday by the
Ohio Lake Erie Commission. The grants advance the Balanced Growth
component of Governor Bob Taft’s Lake Erie Protection & Restoration Plan by
promoting voluntary, orderly growth and conservation at the local level as a
means of protecting water quality and other resources in the Lake
Erie basin.
“These grants support locally
driven watershed planning partnerships in three diverse settings – urban,
suburban and rural – helping to demonstrate how Balanced Growth practices
and planning approaches can improve watersheds and water quality throughout the
Lake Erie basin,” said Ohio Department of Natural Resources Director Sam
Speck, the commission’s chairman.
“Through these projects, our hope
is to provide voluntary, community-based models that can be adapted to the
needs of other communities as a means of promoting growth while protecting
water,” Speck said.
Funding for the grants, which is provided
by the Ohio Water Development Authority and administered by the commission,
will be distributed to grantees over a three-year period and will require no
local matching funds.
Visit
the Ohio Lake Erie Commission web site at
www.epa.state.oh.us/oleo
or call the commission office at 419-245-2514 for additional information on the
Lake Erie Balanced Growth Program.
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EDITORS NOTE: See
the attached list of selected watershed balanced growth pilot projects.
For
Further Information Contact:
Edwin J. Hammett,
Executive Director;
Ohio Lake
Erie Commission
(419) 245-2514
SELECTED WATERSHED PILOT PROJECTS
Project: “Implementing Balanced
Growth in the Chagrin
River Watershed.”
Project Director Kyle Dreyfuss-Wells, Executive Director of Chagrin River
Watershed Partners, in the Chagrin
River Watershed. Counties
include Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake and Portage.
Award: $200,000
Description: The Chagrin River Watershed Partners will work
with local governments and other watershed stakeholders to develop the Chagrin
River Watershed Balanced Growth Plan and to advance implementation of best
local land-use practices as recommended by Ohio’s Lake Erie Balanced Growth
Program.
Project: “Swan Creek
Watershed Pilot Project.” Project Director Kurt Erichsen, P.E./Vice
Pres. of Environmental Planning at the Toledo Metropolitan Area
Council of Governments, in the Swan Creek Watershed. Counties include Henry,
Fulton and western Lucas.
Award: $199,857
Description:
The Swan Creek Watershed Pilot Project will bring together jurisdictions from
three counties within the Swan Creek Watershed to address common goals as well as
coordinate a multi-county, multi-jurisdictional planning project, among other
objectives.
Project: “The Rocky River Upper West
Branch Watershed Balanced Growth Plan.” Project Director
Christopher S. Hartman, District Manager of Medina County Soil & Water
Conservation District, in the Rocky
River Upper West
Award: $196,657
Description: This pilot project
includes four sub-watersheds. The Rocky River Watershed Planning Partnership
will provide participating political jurisdictions that have land-use authority
with a watershed plan that will make development decisions more predictable.
The project also includes assisting in achieving objectives identified in the
Rocky River Watershed Action Plan.